


On The Other Side

by Kiatana6



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Don't @ Me, Doppelganger, Dopplegangers go by their numbers, Klaus Deserves to be Happy, M/M, Past Child Abuse, Possessive Behavior, Slow Burn Romance, Sorry no Dave, They never got names, don't steal my work, older Five
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-31
Updated: 2021-01-28
Packaged: 2021-02-25 15:46:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 24
Words: 29,280
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22498546
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kiatana6/pseuds/Kiatana6
Summary: The last thing Klaus remembers is holding his sibling's hands as Five jumps them to some other time. But his hand slips and he falls away from the other. Instead of another time he finds himself in a different universe. One where Sir Reginald did not raise The Umbrella Academy to fight crime but to commit it. Klaus knows he should avoid these other versions of his sibs...but when has he ever done things he should? The other versions of his family are darker and a little scary, but at the same time strangely fascinating. Though the biggest difference in this universe is that their Number Four was the one that died.
Relationships: Diego Hargreeves/Klaus Hargreeves, Klaus Hargreeves/Five, Klaus Hargreeves/Two
Comments: 285
Kudos: 1261





	1. Some explanations and prologue

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own anything connected to The Umbrella Academy. This started out as a role play idea but I couldn't really find any one that was a good fit, or they disappeared on me eventually. I love Klaus so much. He deserves so much better.

So first there are some things to explain for this idea. To make things easier to understand and give a bit of history.

-The doppelgangers were never given names. They all go by their numbers.Grace was never more than a caregiver. Their personalities are similar to the originals except they are more ruthless. They were not cared for growing up. Power was prized over emotion.  
-Four was a more restrained version of Klaus. Perhaps he was what Klaus would have been if he hadn’t done drugs. Four could be a little sassy but he was quick to back down. Meanwhile Klaus charges forward.  
-Four died on a mission when he was a teenager. He actually saved Five. Who up until that point saw Four as the runt of the litter.  
Reginald was killed shortly after. His callous attitude towards the loss of Four changed things for the other. They saw that none of them mattered if they weren’t seen as useful. So they decided Sir Reginald was no longer useful. Because they didn’t want a chance that he would be saved Pogo was killed as well. Caregiver(Alternate Grace) was deactivated and later reprogrammed.  
-Klaus is like Four and so different. It makes him both fascinating and frustrating to the Five,Two and Six..  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Traveling through space and time was already a difficult task. Even though Five made it look easy. However doing a jump with six extra people certainly complicated things. No one knew what Five experienced when he blinked in and out of existence. Five had never explained the process. Vanya had once asked when they were younger but the explanation had been both condescending and confusion. So very Five. There were many reasons why Klaus didn’t ask Five questions.

Klaus screamed as pain ripped through him. One moment he was holding onto Diego’s hand as they were attempting to escape the end of the world. Five said he could jump them forward into time. Or at least he thought that had been the plan. He did remember for a few moments he had been in his younger body. He remembered Five pointing out he was a fifty eight year old man in a kid’s body when asked what could go wrong. Christ on a cracker he thought he had been kidding! 

He felt himself spinning out of control. But he didn’t dare open his eyes to see what was going on. He clawed the air helplessly in the small desperate hope he would be able to find Diego’s hand again. And then without warning everything stopped. Klaus found himself flat on his back staring up at the ceiling. Huh...that was different. Last time he had looked up at the sky, the moon was falling down to earth. And he was able to see that because of the giant ass hole in the ceiling. Slowly he sat up with a groan and looked around. He didn’t know where he was. Or when. Klaus looked down at himself and was relieved to see that he was still in his adult body. “Well thank god for little green apples.” he muttered as he climbed to his feet.

He was still on the stage but the theater was empty. Which was good because Klaus wasn’t sure how to explain things to the random person who found him. Outside the world was intact. That was good. But things seemed a little too quiet. That was weird. It was like the beginning of a horror movie where the main character knew something was wrong but not what was wrong. He noticed a nearby newspaper dispenser. He didn’t have any money on him but that was okay. He just wanted to check out the date.Which was the same date of the concert. Though he got so much more than he bargained for. On the front page was slightly blurry picture of Diego and Luther running out of a bank. The headline read ‘Umbrella Academy Robs Bank.’ “What the shit?!”

A part of him was really tempted to just break the glass so he could get the whole story, literally. But Klaus also didn’t want to draw attention to himself. He very faintly remembered Pogo giving them a lesson about the possibility of there being other universes out there. Of course once Sir Reginald found out about such a “fanciful” lesson subject he put a stop to it. But he did remember some things. Funny how much was coming back to him when he remembered how often he day dreamed during morning lessons. He supposed in this...place he was in the Umbrella Academy were not there to save the day.


	2. And so we meet again....kind of.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter goes over the story of when Four died and how it changed things. Mainly Two, Five, and Six. Also Klaus will be discovered. But by who?! Well you'll find out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for the kudos, bookmarks, and comments. I'm very interested in your thoughts. I don't want to give too much away but there is a good chance that down the road the originals will make an appearance.

Two sat in his room twirling his knife. He was a little bored. Robbing the bank with One had been fun but that had been a couple of days ago. It had been easy of course and they hadn’t really taken that much. It was a bit more to keep up appearances. Had to remind people who they were. Had to keep them guessing. Plus there were always The Others out there. The Others were what they called their other siblings. The ones Sir Reginald couldn’t get his hands on for one reason or another. The boring stick in the mud ones who thought what his lot was doing with their lives was “wrong” and “evil”. Fucking goody goodies. Not that he was really worried about them.

He wondered if Five had a plan for something. He usually did. He had become the leader after Reginald died. Of course One had been rather upset by that power shift. But Five had quickly showed he was the man with the plan. Well teenager. This had happened when they were sixteen. After they got rid of that fucking bastard. Two had always thought One was only in charge because their so called father said so. And he said so because he knew that One was always going to be his good little soldier. Well, maybe not always. He had agreed to the plan to get rid of Reggie. 

Even though he had been put off by Reginald’s cold attitude towards ...the incident. Even though it had been almost fifteen years ago he still hated to think about it. The day they had lost Four. A mission gone wrong. A cop had shot at Five who had been looking the other way and Four pushed him. They had all been in shock. Five then grabbed the bleeding Four and jumped them back to the Academy. Three wasted no time. She rumored all of the officers into shooting themselves. And the team watched without an ounce of pity even as some one cried as they did it. Two had given zero fucks. Then they had all rushed back to see how Four was.

Caregiver and Pogo operated on Four for hours. But in the end it was all for nothing. He died. And the world became a little less bright. Four had always been a little different from the rest of them. He asked questions and looked at the world in a completely new way. He wanted to have fun. He cracked jokes. He also hated his powers. Two understood that. Seeing ghosts sounded scary. But there wasn’t room for weakness. And according to Reginald there wasn’t time for grief either. When he addressed what had happened he called out Five, which they had expected. But he had called Four’s action an unfortunate mistake, said that they had the rest of the day to grieve but tomorrow would be back to business. And that was all. They had been shocked and insulted. Then to rub salt in their wounds the next day he went over everything that had gone wrong. He called Four’s death a waste and criticized him. It was then that they were all expendable in the end. They all agreed that it was time for a change.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Six sat in the library. He was reading Alice In Wonderland. It was one of the many new additions he had added to the library after killing Sir Reginald. He didn’t regret any part of that. His only regret was the loss of Four. They had been close in a way none of the others were. They were the only two who hated their powers. There was a literal tentacle monster inside him. It was scary. Four hated his powers. Some of the ghosts he described did sound terrifying and it didn’t matter that the fact that they couldn’t physically hurt Four. Mental trauma was mental trauma. But they both soldiered on. There weren’t time for complaints. But sometimes in the dead of the night Four would slip out of bed and crawl into his. It was a habit started when they were children and continued on over the years. They confided in one another. 

Losing Four had been devastating. He had lost his best friend. After the death announcement was made and they were told they had the afternoon to grieve Six had gone down to the police department and let loose. He wasn’t afraid of his powers. Whatever was in him felt Four’s loss as painfully as he did. Maybe because when they were little Four would talk to his stomach. Tell the tentacles stories and jokes. It was silly and stupid, but it made them both laugh. It made Six feel a little better about himself. The satisfaction was short lived. He knew those officers didn’t deserve to die ...but neither had Four. Over the years he came to accept his powers more. He thought it was something Four would have wanted him to do.  
~~~~~~~~  
Five sat at his desk.He had taken immense pleasure it taking over their father’s study after the coup. He wasn’t planning anything at the moment. He was mostly just trying to relax. Five was sure that out of all their powers his were the most complicated. It took a great deal of concentration and math to know when and where to jump. Though he knew he wasn’t the most powerful. That would certainly be Seven. But fortunately she didn’t want to be the one in charge of things. She was content to follow his orders because he respected her. He didn’t order her about all willy nilly. Or because he could like One used to do to flex his power and remind them all that he had been chosen as team leader.

For over sixteen years he had viewed Four as someone who was inconsequential. In the grand scheme of things he was unimportant. Not completely useless but clearly the runt of the litter when it came to powers. But he kept his head down and didn’t cause trouble. And then Four saved his life.They had been wrapping things up just as the cops arrived. If they didn’t have to engage with law enforcement then they didn’t. He heard the gunshot, and the next thing he knew he was being shoved to the ground. Mounting anger turned to horror as he realized what had happened. Without hesitation he grabbed Four and took him back, screaming for help. He let himself be pushed out of the way as Caregiver and Pogo took over. He remembered looking up and seeing Sir Reginald looking down from above. But he said nothing. Just turned around and went back to his study.

Suddenly Five’s head snapped up. Something had happened. He felt it in the time and space anomaly. When you knew how to control it you knew what it felt like when something was off. Jumping to his feet and stepped forward. His next step landed him in Two’s room. It was the most likely place for him to be aside from the training room. “Something has happened. I don’t know what. I want you to go find out what or who it is.” he said not bothering with a greeting. He wanted results and stealth. Which was why he wanted Two on this.  
~~~~~~  
Two looked up at the sudden appearance of his brother Five. He didn’t jump since he was quite used to this. He did let one eyebrow raised in question. He didn’t have long to wait. “Understood.” he said as he sheathed his knife and stalked out of the room after getting changed into street clothes, Fine had left as soon as he gave his acceptance of the task. If Five thought something was off then it probably was. Five was in charge for a reason. 

Of the six of them Two and Three were the best at playing a part. It was about more than just not drawing unwanted attention to themselves. They were able to blend in and act casual. One was way too freaking huge. Sometimes Six's stomach made weird noises. Seven didn’t care for going out. And Five just didn’t have the patience for playing nice.

Out on the street he wasn’t seeing anything out of the ordinary. He frowned a little and grumbled about how nice it would have been for Five to give him a little more direction. Just as he was about to give up and go back he saw something that made him stop in his tracks. He felt the blood drain from his face. Though thankfully shock soon turned into blinding rage.  
~~~~~~~  
Klaus was being extra careful as he walked around. He was scared that at any moment someone would point at him and scream about his being part of The Umbrella Academy. He had honestly he had never thought about how easy it would have been for dad to go the other way and raise a team of super villains instead of a team of super heroes. To be honest it was kind of funny. He wondered if the team was all the same. In this universe had Reggie been able to get more kids? And what about Vanya? Did she have powers? Was she drugged up too?

But to his surprise everyone was just going about their lives. No one really paid him much attention. Which he found weird. Were those stupid little domino masks really that good at disguising them? He had always thought the people in the Superman comics were just stupid for plot’s sake…..but maybe the writers were onto something with out really knowing it.

Suddenly a hand reached out and pulled him back into an alley. He grunted softly as his back hit the brick wall. His eyes went wide because he found himself staring into the very angry looking face of Diego with a knife pressed to his throat. Well fuck. This wasn’t good.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In the next chapter Two will have to decide what to do with Klaus. While Klaus will have to think quickly to survive his first encounter with some one from the alternate Umbrella Academy.
> 
> Side note: I don't know how to get the note from the first chapter to not be here. I see it. Do you see it? I even tried deleting the first chapter note >_< I'm sorry.


	3. Rude!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Klaus gets to know Two a little bit more. And he meets Five! Also, who wanted a Mama Grace origin story? Well if you didn't you're getting it anyway. All good things come through Klaus.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is turning out to be a lot more fun than I expected. It is also turning out to be a shameless place for all my Klaus head cannons. I get so excited when I see that some one commented. You readers make me really happy! And I hope it makes you guys happy too.

Two was furious!! This had to be one of The Others. But how had they found out where the Umbrella Academy base was? Why did they look like Four?! It had to be someone who could change their appearance. And even though he hadn’t seen Four since he was sixteen he had often thought about what he would look like as an adult. He would know that curly hair anywhere. Those long graceful limbs. Four had always been lithe. His muscles were there. But they just weren’t prominent

His mind was reeling. It screamed FOUR!! His heart felt like it was turning over in his chest. He wanted to scream. He wanted to punch this fucker until no one would ever recognize their face no matter who they pretended to be. Because how dare this person pretend to be an older Four. What did they hope to gain? Were they going to try to convince him and the others that he had been alive all this time.

“Who the fuck are you? Who the fuck sent you? And why the FUCK do you look like that?!” he demanded in a growl pressing the knife a little harder to show he wasn’t playing around.

~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Klaus was scared. He knew Diego could be dangerous. And that he was scary to others. But not once had Klaus ever been afraid of him. He knew Diego had a thick skin but was really a big softy inside. No matter how tired or annoyed he got Diego always gave him a ride. Even when his destination was a seemingly random street. He knew Diego worried about him. Dragged him home when ever he could, made sure he got something to eat. Even when he knew in the morning he’d likely be gone.

And even though he knew this wasn’t his Diego. He couldn’t stop himself from mouthing off. “Why do I look like this?” he asked. “Rude! Sir I am as God made me! And did you just number me? I have a name just like you. So I must repeat myself...rude!”  
~~~~~~  
Two was a little caught off guard. He had not been expecting a response like that. For a few moments he found himself lost in those hazel green eyes. They were green like a deep pond. With little fleck of gold, like fall leaves that had swirled in the water. God he would know those eyes anywhere. And then instead of a stammered reply Two got the sassiest reply ever. He almost didn’t know how to respond. No one had ever spoken to him like that. Sure Four liked to tease him but he had never been quite this bold.

He glared and tried to recover his thoughts. “You think I’m playing around?! Why do you look like Four?!”

“Wow Di(pronounced Dee) you have got to get out more.” the impostor sighed. 

Two frowned. “Di?” he asked  
~~~~~~~  
Klaus looked at him in confusion. “Yeah….short for Diego…..the name mom gave you.” What the hell was going on. Why was Diego so mad at him? Why did he keep asking why he looked like Four? He was Number Four...technically. They had gotten names when they were five. Grace had been taking care of them for months. Klaus couldn’t remember the last time he had been so happy. Yes there were still boring morning lessons and a monotonous training schedule. But now at bed time he was tucked in and got a gentle kiss on the forehead. He remembered asking Grace if she was their mother. She had just smiled and said if he liked he could call her mother.

A week later he had accidentally called Grace mom in front of the others. Klaus remembered a rush of embarrassment. He had thought the others would make fun of him. That they thought it was stupid to call their nanny mother. But instead the others expressed an interest in doing what Klaus was. It seemed they all had secretly longed for a mother figure in their lives. And Klaus Grace was like a mother from a story book he had found in the library and hidden away in his room. And so Grace became the Umbrella Academy’s mother. He didn’t remember when he found out she wasn’t human. But when he did it didn’t matter. By then she was Grace Hargreeves and they loved her. She gave them names and taught them they could be more than just numbers assigned to them.  
~~~~~~  
Two glowered. “What the hell are you talking about?! We don’t have a mother and we don’t have names!” he was so fucking done! He didn’t know what was going on. He needed to get to the bottom of this. He needed...Five. They needed to get off the street. But he couldn’t take the impostor to the Academy. If he was one of The Others it would be leading them straight to their home base. So he was going to call Five and have him jump the impostor. He wouldn’t know where he was.

“Just….shut up.” he ordered.

“Ooooo bossy. I like it.” the impostor grin. Two felt like a bucket of ice water had been dumped over him. God, that smile. He remembered it so well. He pulled out his phone and dialed Five’s number. “We have a situation. Possible Others situation that you need to see” he said once Five picked up. “Someone who can change their looks maybe. I don’t know….just...get here. We need privacy and I can’t exactly march him up to the front door.”

He gave Five his location before pulling the impostor away from the brick wall so he could put him in handcuffs and blindfold him.

“Kinky Di. But where’s your bondage Batman outfit?” the impostor grinned.

“Just….shut up.” he sighed.  
~~~~~  
Five was not a happy camper. He didn’t like The Others sniffing around so close to the Academy. He jumped to Two’s location and stared. “What the hell?” He could see why Two expressed a need for privacy. He felt his blood boil. He was tempted to say it didn’t matter if this guy knew where they lived because he wasn’t going to leave it alive. But why give out spoilers? He almost saw red. Did the others have someone with shape shifting or the power to glamour themselves? But….why make themselves look like this. What did they know?!

“Who is this and why does he look like that?” he frowned  
~~~~~~~  
Klaus gave a dramatic gasp. “Rude!”


	4. Home Sweet Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Klaus is taken back to the Academy. He meets the other and has to figure out how to convince the alternate siblings not to kill him. He does not want to deal with that sassy little girl he met last time he was in limbo.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am going to try to post chapters regularly. Right now this is how I relax after I get home from work. I love seeing if people left kudos/bookmarks/reviews. I shamelessly check with more regularity than I am willing to admit. Just seeing that people checked it out make me feel good. Thank you everyone.

Five stared at the imposter. He couldn’t figure out what the angle was. What was the benefit of one of The Others impersonating Four. They couldn’t possibly expect them to believe that Four had been alive and out there in the world. Even if Four had somehow survived he would never stay away for so long. They weren’t perfect, but they were family. Sir Reginald may have collected them but they had proven that they were a pack. They looked out for one another. No one could come between them. Not even the man who had brought them together. 

It was a bold move he supposed. Stupid, but bold. Because they were going to make this guy spill every secret he had concerning The Others. Then they would kill him for daring to impersonate Four. And finally they would make a plan to go after The Others and take care of them. He was done leaving them alone. They had crossed a line and Five was going to see that whatever life they had created for themselves would burn to the goddamn ground Clearly he had been going way too easy on these bastards, never really taking them seriously. No one fucked with The Ubrella Academy! “I will take him back. Meet me there and alert the others. We will deal with this together.” he decided carefully not saying where he would take the imposter. At Two’s nod he placed a hand on the imposter and was gone.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Klaus felt his stomach give a familiar lurch but it was over much quicker this time. When his blindfold was taken off he found himself tied to a chair. He really wished he wasn’t getting used to things like this. He looked around. It looked like he was in one of the many sitting rooms of the Academy. Living rooms? Family rooms? He never could figure out the difference between those rooms. 

His eyes fell on Five and he stared. It was….adult Five. “Holy shit.” he marveled. He had always wondered what Five would look like. When he was cold and alone in that mausoleum he had imagined Five somewhere else. He would switch between intense jealousy that Five had escaped and longing for him to be happy wherever he was. He had been a little disappointed that Five had come back in his thirteen year old body. Five didn’t look that different. Still looked like he had a stick up his ass. The door opened and he watched as the other versions of his siblings came in. He noted that he didn’t see himself. That was disappointing. When his eyes fell on Six the blood drained from his face. “Ben!” he cried as he struggled in his chair.  
~~~~~~  
Six stared. They were all staring. How could they not. It was like Four had come back to them. Except that was impossible. When Five had told them what had happened they were all angry. They all felt the same. They wanted blood.They would not let this incident go unpunished. Six felt his anger mix with confusion at the reaction of the impostor seeing him. He looked like he had seen a ghost. “Who the fuck is Ben?” he asked Five, but it was Two who answered.

“He says we have names….and a mother.” Two explained. Clearly The Others had little to no serious information on them.

“So…..what’s your story.” Six finally asked. The guy hadn’t stopped staring at him. It was getting weird.  
~~~~~~~~~~  
Klaus started. Ben! It was Ben! “Wait….can everyone see you?” he asked. He could tell from the strange looks everyone was giving him that they could see Ben. Klaus couldn’t help but stare. It was Ben but….different. He could tell that he was solid. Really there. Alive. He wanted to touch him! But sadly he was tied to a chair.

He looked at Other Ben when asked for his story. “I think I’m in the wrong universe,” he began. “Five was jumping the lot of us to a different time. And I lost my grip.” No jokes. No sass. He had nothing to lose by being completely honest. He needed them to accept his word. He wanted to touch Other Ben! Wait...was that weird? Oh well he didn’t care!

Older Five moved to stand in front of him. “What do you mean? Why would I….why would your Five be jumping you all?” Even he couldn't even manage seven people. Not that he had ever tried. But even just trying to imagine that bit of math hurt his head. “Who the hell are you?”

Klaus watched Five. Studied every detail of his face. This was so surreal. He might think he was on something. But he knew he was sober. “We were trying to escape the end of the world. We found the answer to fix it too late. Five said he could take us all to another time.” Klaus answered softly. “It was working...until I lost my grip. Instead of another time. I found myself here. Same date, same place. Except the moon was not falling down to earth.”

“Why was the world ending?” Two asked him.

Klaus looked around. He couldn’t help but snort when he saw this universe’s Luther. He was as he used to be. Before the accident. Still tall as a mother fucking tree. But less monkey who would climb said tree. “A family misunderstanding.” He looked and noticed Vanya.This other Vanya was different. She was a little apart from the group. But she didn’t have that kicked dog mentality he was used to seeing. Though he supposed the fact that her eyes weren't completely white was a very good sign. It gave him hope. That his family could fix what their father had decided to break, what Luther had made worse.  
~~~~~~~~~~~  
Five was getting annoyed. They weren’t getting any straight answers! “Why did The Others send you?” he asked point blank. He watched Other Four’s face cloud in confusion.

“The others?” he asked looking blank. “What others?” It was clear he didn’t understand. But that could be an act. A Four from another universe? While he was glad The Others hadn’t tried to pass this guy off as Fur being secretly alive all this time. Still this story was highly suspicious. It was too easy to explain away differences in memories. He could just say things had happened differently in his own universe. He supposed the easiest thing would be to have Three rumor Other Four into only telling the truth. But had The Others thought about that? Did he have some way to protect himself?

“The Others are what we call the others born on the same date and time as us.” Five explained watching Other Four’s face closely. It would be so easy to make things up and explain them away. What were things that might be the same? “When we were sixteen. Our brother Four was killed on a operation gone wrong. So you can understand why we are so doubtful of your story.” He decided to just cut to the chase.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Klaus started. “Christ on a cracker no wonder you guys looked so damn pissed off.” It was upsetting to know that in this universe he had died. He had been looking forward to causing mischief with his other self. He wondered if there was a universe where a different one of them was the dead one. He idly wondered if the ghost was hanging around but there was just no one who could see or talk to him. The thought made Klaus very sad. He was so happy Ben had found his way back to him. It hadn’t happened right away. In a way Klaus had never been alone even when he was at his lowest. Ben. Was he okay? Was he with the others? Was he lost in some other universe? Was he in this one? He missed him. Sure Ben sometimes left. Klaus assumed to go to ghost things. But he always came back.

He remembered trying to tell the others that Ben was with him. It...had not gone well. But Ben had appreciated the effort.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
“Why does he look so sad all of the sudden?” Three asked.She had always hated when Four had been sad. She remembered how Four would come to get after a particularly difficult training session. Four had never been that big of a fighter. His efforts were rarely good enough for their father. She remembered how angry and disappointed he was in himself. They would sit in her closet and paint one another’s nails. She was the only one who knew Four was more expressive than all of them. And all he wanted out of life was freedom. 

The first afternoon she had found Four in her room wearing one of her uniform skirts she had been mad. But then she saw how afraid Four was that she would tell on him. They had been ten and Four had just had his growth spurt. He had been coltish, all legs and arms. He tearfully said that he wanted to be graceful like she was. How was she supposed to stay mad after that?

She felt weird. Was she feeling bad for a stranger? Was that a thing that happened to people?! She had thought by now Five would have had her rumor the truth out of the Fake Four. But instead she approached him and placed a hand on Fake Four’s shoulder. “Hey….what’s wrong?”  
~~~~~~~~~  
Klaus looked up in surprise. He gave her a sad smile. “Uh….yeah. I just got a little sad. In my universe Ben uh….Six died. But his ghost came back. We were together for years. Just Ben and me against the world.” he said with a small smile. “We were always close. Even when we were little. It’s kinda dumb….but I would talk to his stomach. To….whatever was in there. I thought if I told it a bedtime story or jokes it would be happy.”  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Six starred with wide eyes. Four had used to do that with him. And it was nothing no one else could know or guess about. It was a Four thing. Something that other versions of them did apparently.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter: The doppelgangers must decide what to do with Klaus. Klaus tries to settle in.


	5. Getting To Know All About You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Klaus passes the interrogation and the Umbrella Academy must decide what to do with him. Klaus is pleased that his life isn't in danger but doesn't know what the future will hold for him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was blown away by the reviews you guys gave for the last chapter. I just wanted to let everyone know even though I'm not sure what to do with Ben I promise he is not floating around in time and space. He is okay!

Six’s mind was racing after what the other Four said about talking to the stomach of that other Six….Ben. Did they really have names? He made it sound like he was part of a group like theirs. He found that he wanted to know more. But he knew that the others were still doubtful. He studied the Other Four. He seemed oddly calm for someone tied to a chair. He was thinner than Four, like he was tired already. Were those dog tags around his neck? But that mop of curls and those eyes…..god he would know them anywhere. Six knew if this wasn’t real his heart was going to break.

He gave Five a pointed look. And finally the order was given. “Three. Rumor him.”  
~~~~~~~~~  
Three looked up and nodded. She moved to stand in front of the other the Other Four. She thought for a moment and then looked him in the eye. “I heard a rumor….that when you lie it feels like your blood is made of acid.” She watched with satisfaction as those green eyes glazed over for a moment before stepping back.  
~~~~~~~~  
Five took Three’s place. Ge thought about what he wanted to ask first. “Who are you?”

“Klaus Hargreeves…..I’m Number Four.” he answered.

Five frowned. He didn’t know how to feel about that answer. “What are you afraid of?” It was always good to know what others feared.

“Ghosts.” Klaus answered “Being alone in the dark.”

“Where do you live?” Five asked.

“I live in a lot of different places.” Klaus shrugged.

“Do you know where you are?” Five pressed.

“I’m going to guess the Umbrella Academy.”

Five felt his eyes grow wide. “How do you know that?!” Yes they were known as the Umbrella Academy but no one knew that’s what their home base was called.

“Uh….cause where else would you take me?” Klaus asked as if this should be the most obvious answer in the world.

“What is your biggest regret?” Five pressed.

Klaus didn’t answer right away. “That people who are important to me keep dying.” First there was Ben…..and then there had been Dave.

“Are you afraid to die?” Five asked at random.

“Not really.” Klaus replied.

“Why not?” Five wondered if this was just bravado.

“Because death doesn’t really stick with me.” Klaus said, sounding tired. There had been so many times when he wanted to die but he just kept waking up.

Five wasn’t sure what to make of that one. “Anyone else want to go?” he offered.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Two found that he wanted to ask Klaus things. But at the same time he wanted to get to know him. He didn’t want to be told things because lying would cause massive pain. He wanted to know more about Klaus and his universe. He knew this wasn’t like having Four back, but it was pretty damn close.

“Are you working with The Others?” he asked.

Klaus shook his head. “I don’t know who these Others are. I’ve never even really thought about the kids dad couldn’t collect.”

Two stared. “Dad?” Did Klaus know who his parents were? Klaus had mentioned having a mom.

“Uh...yeah. Sir Reginald Hargreeve. Buyer of kids. Founder of The Umbrella Academy.” Klaus said looking puzzled. “Do you guys not call him that?”

“Well technically he was our father but we never got close to him.” Two replied.

Klaus’ attention was caught. “Was? Your Reggie kicked the bucket recently too?”

Two exchanged a look with Five. “Uh...no. He died over ten years ago.”

Klaus let out a whistle. “Wow you guys got to be on your own for that long? Our dad died this year.”

Two were intrigued. “How’d he die?” He wondered if they had killed him. His guess was not since he had only recently died and Klaus looked as old as they were.

Klaus laughed. “That….is a complicated story. We thought it was natural causes but then later we found out he arranged his death to get us all back together in one place so we could stop the end of the world.”

The room was silent and they started. “Wait….what?” Two asked. What the hell was he talking about?!  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Klaus chuckled. “Like I said. It’s a complicated story.” he replied. He wondered how much longer they were going to keep him tied up. He was fine with it. After all those two times phycos had him tied up for a couple of days. He was pretty sure they at least weren’t planning to kill him. Like a solid eighty-ninety percent sure. But you never knew. They had rumored him so lying was not an option. Not that Klaus had ever had acid poured on him but he was sure that feeling like his blood was made of it would not be pleasant. 

“Uh….so now what?” he asked. Everyone looked to Five. He found it quite interesting that Five seemed to be in charge. He wondered if this is what would have happened to his group if Five hadn’t gotten stuck in the future. To be honest it made a lot of sense. Five was clearly the smartest one in the room. Luther had only been in charge because their father had decided. And it seemed like once the old man was gone there had been a change in leadership.  
~~~~~~~~~~  
Five looked at Klaus for a long while. He wasn’t sure exactly what he thought about this whole situation. But the chances of Klaus working for The Others seemed to be slim to none at this point. He could tell that the others were curious about him. And to be honest he was too. What had happened to make Klaus the way he was. How much like Four was he? What was his family like?

“Untie him.” he ordered. He thought about telling Three to put him back to normal but decided against that. “I want someone with Klaus at all time.” He may not think he was with The Others but that didn’t mean he trusted him one hundred percent

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. In the next chapter Klaus will get to see more of the other Academy. The group will get to know him a bit more and what happened to lead him to fall into their universe. Will they like what they find out?


	6. The Adventures of Klaus and Six

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Klaus gets his first babysitter. Six. Why Six? Because he called Klaus first!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not sure about the lengths of the next few chapters. I want to give Six, Two, and Five their own chapters with Klaus and I'm not sure how long they're all going to be.

Six untied Klaus. He was glad that the interrogation was over but couldn’t help but notice Five hadn’t given Three orders to resend the acid blood rumor. Not that he was surprised. He didn’t get a bad feeling from Klaus. He was good at reading people. He was sure after a little time Five would decide that Klaus meant no harm. He helped Klaus stand and watched as he rubbed his wrists. But he didn’t look any worse for the ware.

“I want someone with Klaus at all times.” Five said looking from one person to another. “I don’t care who does it.”

“I will.” Six quickly responded. He had noticed that Two had been about to say something and made sure to beat him to it. Two wasn’t going to argue with him because it would mean he wanted to spend time with Klaus. Six wanted the same thing but to show such obvious emotion in front of the others would embarrass Two. He smirked a bit at the dirty look Two gave him. He couldn’t help but notice how Klaus’ face lit up at this new development.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Klaus couldn’t help but notice Five hadn’t told Three to take back her rumor. He supposed that he may be allowed to live but no matter what universe Five was a paranoid bastard. Oh well. “A babysitter?” he pouted. “Lame!”

But then Six said he would take the first watch. He couldn’t help but grin. “Nevermind!” he exclaimed. He would totally hang out with Six! He knew it wasn’t like having Ben. But it would be close. He missed his brother. Ben had always looked out for him. Even after he died Ben had done his best for him. Even though Klaus hadn’t always listened to him. He was hoping that Six was as good at soothing him as Ben had been. He was actually pretty curious about this Umbrella Academy. He noticed that it seemed like Two wanted to say something. But he stayed silent.

“Keep him out of trouble.” Five ordered Six before walking out of the room with Seven following. Klaus wondered if they were close like Vanya and his Five had been. Three gave him a smile before walking out of the room hand in hand with One. Well looked like that was one big difference between the universes. He was happy for them. Life could have turned out so differently if Alison and Luther had gotten their chance at being happy together. But sadly Luther was too much of a good little soldier. He never got tired of playing super hero. Which probably broke Alison’s heart. He didn’t love her enough to leave. Honestly he was glad she hadn’t stuck around waiting for Luther.   
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Six gave Five’s back a mocking salute after he was ordered to keep Klaus out of trouble. He watched everyone go until it was just Two, Klaus, and himself. He grinned at Two. “Are you off as well Two?” he asked. He knew Two wanted to stay but wasn’t going to say it out loud. That would be showing emotion which was something they still didn’t do easily after all these years. They were better than when their father was alive and any sign of emotion was not just frowned upon but sometimes got you punished. He knew they were all curious about Klaus. But none of them were willing to be open about it. When Two made sure to hit him with his shoulder as he left Six couldn’t help but laugh.

Klaus gave him a puzzled look. “What was that?” he asked.

“Two wants to get to know you. But he’s not willing to do anything about it.He’s just mad because I volunteered to watch you before he could.” Six smiled. Klaus giggled and Six didn’t know if he had ever heard a cuter sound. Hearing it made him feel warm.

“Come on let's get you a room.” he suggested. “Then you can tell me more about yourself.”  
~~~~~~~~  
Klaus knew he should be on guard. But he felt...safe. He wondered if it was because it was Six he was with and that was almost like being with Ben. Without thinking he reached out and took hold of Six’s hand. He felt delighted to shoot through him when his hand didn’t go through anything. He saw Six look back at him in surprise. Instantly Klaus let go of the hand and felt himself blush. Something he hadn’t done in some time. “S-sorry.” he apologised.

Six lead him up stairs to a guest room. It was bigger and nicer than his childhood bedroom. But he supposed there was no sense in staying in those little rooms. He looked around in interest before sitting on the bed. He had nothing to unpack of course. The only thing he owned were the clothes he was wearing. He reached up and nervously fingered the dog tags he wore around his neck.

“So….tell me about yourself.” Six prompted.

Klaus didn’t speak right away. He wasn’t really sure where to begin. “I suppose our beginning was a lot like yours. Many, many moons ago Sir Reginald Hargreeves set out to gather as many magic babies as he could. Not sure how he knew about what happened, or where to find the families. In the end he could only get seven. And so he created his Umbrella Academy.” He wasn’t sure how much detail about his personal life he wanted to go into. “Funny twist thought. My Umbrella Academy was raised to be little super heroes.”  
~~~~~~~  
Six gave a snort of laughter. “Super heroes?!” he exclaimed. “Where’s the fun in that? Much more interesting to cause trouble than to stop it.” Just being near Four….Klaus made him happy. He wondered if this was what Four would have turned out like if he had lived. Klaus seemed confident in who he was. He was bolder than Four had ever been. Six liked that a lot.

“How did you guys get names?” he asked. He had been wondering about that for ages. Was their father more caring than their own? It was possible knowing that this other Academy had been the good guys. He couldn’t help but be a little envious. Though to be honest the idea of names had never occurred to them. Numbers worked well enough.  
~~~~~~~~~  
Klaus was happy to answer this one. “Well when we were about four or so our nannies were dropping like flies all thanks to Vanya….our number Seven. Not that we knew it at the time. But long story short Dad decided that we needed a nanny that was more durable. And so he made Grace. She was perfect.” He couldn’t help but smile at the memories.

“I asked if she was our mother and she said that if I wanted to call her that I could. So I did. I was surprised when the others didn’t make fun of me for it. In fact they wanted a mommy as much as I did. We had no idea she wasn’t real. She became Grace Hargreeves and she was our mother. That year on our birthday she gave us all names.”

“What are your names?” Six asked “Go in order please.”

“Luther, Diego, Allison, Klaus, Five, Ben, and Vanya.” Klaus supplied. He watched Six’s face get a confused look. “Yes Five. He had to be a stubborn little pain and insist that he keep his number because he didn’t care about getting a name.”

Klaus was pleased when he was able to make Six laugh. The other versions of his siblings seemed so serious. It was easy to get along with Six. Klaus didn’t forget that he wasn’t Ben. But there wasn’t a lot he could do about that right now. Talking to Six was easy. He gave descriptions of his own siblings and Six would spot the differences. It seemed their upbringing had been a lot of the same. Just in this universe they were taught slightly differently. They were taught how to rob a bank instead of how to stop it from being robbed.

To be honest Klaus was impressed they stayed together after their father died.”My lot scattered to the four winds way before that.” Klaus announced casually.

“Why is that?” Six asked. They were both lying on the bed staring up at the ceiling. 

A sad look came over Klaus’ face. “Mission went wrong when we were thirteen. Ben….died. And after that everything changed. Went slowly downhill.” Before he could say more Two was in the doorway. “Six….Five wants you. He’s come up with a new bank robbery plan and wants your input.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Two could tell Six wasn’t pleased to have his time with Klaus interrupted. But you could hardly argue with Five. When he called you came running or he would find a way to make you sorry. Once Six left the room and was down the hall Two grabbed Klaus’ hand and pulled him off the bed. “Hurry!”

He pulled him out of the room and down the hallway. “Where are we going?” Klaus asked.

“No destination in mind.” Two answered with a smirk. “I just want enough distance by the time Six realizes I just lied to him.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not really sure how I feel about how this chapter came out. I hope you all like it. The next chapter will be about Klaus and Two if you haven't already guessed.


	7. The Adventures Of Klaus and Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Klaus and Two spend time together. And the game of keep away from Six begins! Six is less than pleased at being tricked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I find it hilarious that the chapter about Klaus and Six bonding actually ended up being chapter six.

Six knocked on the door of Five’s study. It had once been their father’s study. A place they were never supposed to set foot in unless invited. And you were only invited when you were in serious trouble. You did not want to be called into father’s office.

“Come in.” Five called out and Six walked in.

“Hey Five. Heard you were plotting and I came to help out.” Six smiled. He noted the look of surprise on Five’s face. That was….odd.

Five smiled at him. “Well this is a pleasant surprise. Usually you don’t come to help out until I ask you. But I’m always willing to have a second input on things.” And it was then that Six realized Two had tricked him. That sneaky bastard! In their family when you wanted something you took something. When you had something someone else wanted you gloated. Two had wanted to spend time with Klaus. Six had gotten to it first. So he gloated. But now Two had stolen Klaus away from him. Six was both annoyed and impressed. Because now he was stuck helping Five.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Two was feeling very smug and rightfully so. He knew that about five seconds in Six was going to figure out what had happened. But by that point it would be too late. Two knew Six wouldn’t say anything because it would be admitting that he had been outsmarted.That was the way of this family. He led Klaus up the stairs until they got to the attic. It was his favorite place to get away from the others. Apparently he was not alone.

Klaus was looking around with a smile. He went and sat by the window. “I came up here all the time when I was younger,” he smiled. “Usually to sneak a cigarette.”

Two’s eyebrows went up. “You smoke cigarettes?”

Klaus shrugged. “Used to. Youthful rebellion and all that.”

“How youthful?” Two asked curiously. He watched Klaus’ face scrunch up a bit as he tried to remember and thought it was the cutest fucking thing he had seen in years.

“Uh….ten I think.” Klaus answered. 

“Ten?! Holy shit Klaus!” Two exclaimed. It was becoming clear that there was a lot more to Klaus than what meets the eye. Klaus just gave a little shrug oh his shoulders.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Klaus went to sit by the window. “I learned pretty early that I was never going to be what dad wanted. I was never going to be his good little hero. His perfect number four.”

“Hero?” Two asked him. 

Klaus chuckled and wondered how many times he would tell this story. “My Academy was put together to be a team of heroes. Funny I know considering that here it was the opposite. And yet so much is the same. Same numbers. Same looks. Same powers.” But there was a sharness among all of them. A bit of darkness. Something happened to them. Something connected them all. Klaus wondered what it was. Couldn’t be their father. And they had no Grace Hargreeves. Maybe it was Pogo? Maybe he would ask some day.

“Were your other siblings good little heroes?” Two asked him. 

Klaus thought about that. “Yes. All five of the others were what he wanted. Not as perfect as he wanted of course. Not ever his golden number one was perfect...but I guess he was closest.”

“Six?” Two asked him. “Did he not collect seven kids?”

“Oh he did.” Klaus answered casually. “But Vanya, Number Seven, was kept away from us. We were told she had no powers. And we believed it. We found out too late that wasn’t the case. But I guess now that I think back on it, it should have been obvious something was going on. Old Man had enough money to make a child disappear. God knows he has no sympathy for those who disappoint him.”

Klaus could feel Two’s eyes one him. Knew he was watching him. Wondering what had happened to him. And that was more than any of his own siblings, aside from Ben, had done for him. For the first time in a long time Klaus was tempted to talk about himself. He had a feeling that Two wouldn’t call him a liar. Wouldn’t think what he said was just a ploy to get attention. Oh he knew what the others had thought about him. Read all about it in Vanya’s hurtful book. None of them knew the truth. Except Ben. Ben knew everything about him. But a lot of that knowledge came after his death

Finally he asks. “What happened to you?”

Klaus had been half hoping and dreading. No one asked him that anymore. No one cared. Or maybe they thought he wouldn’t tell them the truth. But they had no idea that it wasn’t his fault that such strange things happened to him. “Nothing good.” he answered ominously.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Two found himself becoming more and more interested in Klaus. He didn’t seem like a hero. When he first had that thought he felt a little bad. But then Klaus himself said that he knew he wasn’t one. Two felt a connection to him. He felt like Klaus had seen and done things no normal person had. He couldn’t picture him as a little hero, saving the day. He didn’t think he could be a villain. But he felt like he could have done well in this universe.

“Klaus….whatever you have done or been through….you can talk to me okay?” he offered awkwardly. He wasn’t the best at sharing. Or really emotions. But there was something about Klaus that made him want to try and reach out. “I won’t judge you.”  
Klaus looked at him with wide eyes. He didn’t move for such a long time that Two is starting to regret making the offer. Worried that Klaus thinks he’s an idiot. But the next thing he knows Klaus is hugging him. A warmth that Two had never known spread over him. When Klaus pulled away Two wanted to hold onto him. But he let go. “Lets go downstairs to get something to eat.” he suggests.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Decided to end this on a sweet note. How ever sooner or later Six will finish up with Five.


	8. Six started it. Two keeps it going. Five plans to finish it.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two and Klaus spend more time together. Klaus meets Caregiver. Six makes his escape.

Six was going crazy. Five was talking about all these plans that included a lot of complicated details and math. He was not focused at all because he kept thinking about Two and Klaus, about all the fun they were probably having. He was so going to get back at Two for this! He had Klaus first! But for now he was stuck. He would rather Five not know about this. Mostly because Five would say something scathing. Probably about how he had gotten over confident and let his guard down so Two could get the drop on him. He just had to bide his time and wait to make his escape. And maybe start to pay attention to what Five was talking about…..maybe  
~~~~~~~~~~~  
Two had never really cared about anyone outside of his family. But Klaus was outside of his unit. He found himself interested in Klaus. He wanted to know more about him. And then there was that hug. Usually the thought of someone else touching him would make him want to punch them before they got a chance to. But when Klaus hugged him...that had made him happy. He had done something to make Klaus feel good.

But at the same time it was a little concerning. Why was it such a big deal to Klaus to be told that he would support him? What had happened to Klaus? Where was his siblings? Didn’t they worry or care about him? Sure he had said they parted ways as the Umbrella Academy. But they were still in one another’s lives right?

“Come on let's get some food.” he said wanting to distract from the fact that he was still really happy about that hug. “You look like a stiff breeze could knock you over.”

“Do you know how to cook?” Klaus asked as they headed back downstairs.

Two shrugged. “I can make simple stuff. Our meals are made by Caregiver.”

Klaus gave him a blank look. “Who?” he asked.

“Caregiver.” Two explained. “She was built when we were little. I imagine so our father wouldn’t have to worry about wasting his precious time keeping us alive.”  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Klaus got a strange feeling of deja vu. Like something familiar was about to happen even though he had never been here before. And when he stepped into the kitchen Klaus at once knew what that thing was. In the kitchen stood a blonde woman. It was Grace Hargreeves. His mother. Except in this universe she had neither of those titles. Instead she was simply Caregiver. A clinical and practical name. It said exactly what she was meant to be.Gone was the flowing skirt and pearls. She was dressed in a simple pencil skirt and blouse. Nothing like the 50’s housewife Klaus was used to.

He felt a jolt of unhappiness wash over him. His mom was dead. He remembered that she had died as the Umbrella Academy came crashing down. Klaus added that to the list of things they needed to fix. Though of course if they could fix their relationship with Vanya then that would help to fix everything else. Five would take them to a point in time where they could make everything better. He had said that Vanya would always cause the apocalypse….unless they did something. And no they did not listen to Luther when he asked if they should leave Vanya behind.

Blue eyes zeroed in on him. Glowing briefly. Caregiver spoke.”Four? Where have you been? You have been gone for a very long time.” the android scolded. 

“Uh….” he wasn’t sure what to say to that. But before he can give a reply Six charges into the room.

“Two you little shit!” he glared. “You fucking lied!”

Klaus watched wide eyed and in surprise at the spectacle before him. Two just gave a little smirk in reply. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” he claimed with practiced innocence. Klaus was impressed.

“Five didn’t call for me at all!”

“Well maybe if you hadn’t been such an asshole about getting to spend time with Klaus this wouldn’t have happened.”

“So you admit you were jealous!”

“Shut up!”

“No you shut up!”

Klaus jumped when a third voice jumped into the conversation. “Both of you shut up.” Five ordered. He was not standing in the kitchen doorway. Two and Six looked close to blows but froze when they saw Five. “Klaus….come here.” Klaus looked over at the order. Not knowing what else to do he walked over to Five. He was still amazed at how he had grown up.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Five placed a hand on Klaus’ shoulder and jumped them to his room. It was the most private place in the Academy. And right now Five wanted privacy. Five wanted to talk to Klaus. To see what was making his brother squabble like two dogs over a bone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next will be Five's chapter with Klaus! Thank you for reading. Please comment. I love reading what you guys think!


	9. The Adventures of Klaus and Five Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Five gets to know Klaus. Six and Two sulk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this chapter took a little longer to get up than the others. But there are two reasons for this. Part of it was work. I work in a candy store and the days up until Valentine's day has been very very busy.Another part of it was that I wanted to get Five right. He is turning out slightly different than I originally pictured for now. But that might change later on. This part is turning out to be longer than I first imagined so I'm going to break it up into two parts

Six and Two stared at the spot that Five and Klaus had just been in. They had expected Five to yell at them or call them stupid for fighting like that. But instead he stole Klaus. Five was far craftier than either of them thought! What did Five want with Klaus? It seemed like they would have to wait and see.  
~~~~~~~~~~  
Klaus felt his stomach drop as he was jumped...somewhere. He imagined this might be what it felt like to ride a roller coaster. He had never done that. Blinking he looked around. He was in a bedroom. A big one. One wall was a huge map of the city in great detail. On another wall were newspaper articles about the Umbrella Academy. There was a large desk with a computer that had a large almost tv like screen. There were a couple of laptops on the desk as well. Before a fire place was a comfortable looking armchair. He wasn’t surprised by the very large bookcase. He wandered over and took notice of the variety of titles. Though there were a lot of boring looking textbooks.

He wandered around a little. “There is no doorknob on your door,” he noted. 

Five nodded. “Yes. I am the only one with easy access to this room. If someone was to break in here I would know.” he said a bit smugly. “No one needs to come into this room besides me.” And those he chose to bring in of course. Five needed his privacy.

“So Klaus….tell me about yourself.” Five prompted.

Klaus stretched out on Five’s bed, ignoring the dirty look that got shot his way because his shoes were on the bed. “What would you like to know about Fiver?” He watched as Five moved to sit at his desk. “Tell me about your universe.” 

He supposed he this wasn’t a very surprising request. But this was going to be his third time telling his origin story! He needed something like a comic book or a tv show. Maybe something on a streaming website. “Well once upon a time….October first nineteen eighty nine….”  
~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Five watched Klaus with interest. He forgot his annoyance at Klaus about laying on his bed. “Yes, yes I know. Forty three children were born to mothers who showed no sign of pregnancy.” Five said with slight impatience. “So it’s the same in both universe’s?”

Klaus points at him with a...finger gun? “Bingo!”

“So Sir Reginal Hargreeves collected seven orphans. Somehow knowing they would develop powers...and he created the Umbrella Academy.” Five theorized.

“Exactly! But one major difference is what my old man decided to do with his Umbrella Academy. Very different from what yours did.” Klaus prompted.

Naturally Five was intrigued. “What did he do?”  
“Created a team of super heroes!” Klaus announced with a giggle. Five starred at him. “What? I’m being serious!”

Five shook his head. It was such a small decision but now that he thought about it the changes it could cause were numerous. He had never thought about becoming a good guy. He had just wanted to explore and expand his powers. And in this universe it just so happened that he ended up doing that through villainy. “I’m guessing that your group is the same as mine. What is your Five like?”

“Annoying little know-it-all.” Klaus answered without hesitation. “Literally.”

“Excuse me?!” he exclaimed looking offended. Klaus giggled and Five felt some of his anger slip away. He stared for several seconds before blinking and coming back to himself. “Explain yourself!”  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Klaus giggled again at the demand. “Some things never change.” he mused thoughtfully instead. “You would get that look on your face when we were kids. I’m glad you didn’t grow out of it like I thought you would.”

“What are you going on about?” Five asked him with an annoyed and exasperated look on his face that Klaus knew very well. 

“When we were thirteen Five challenged dad.” Klaus began. “He wanted to explore time travel. But Dad said he wasn’t ready. And Five being….well….himself...did not take kindly to this. Got up and stormed away from the dinner table!” Klaus gave an exaggerated gasp of horror before continuing. “He didn’t come back. And that was the beginning of the end of my Umbrella Academy.” 

Klaus watched Five. He wasn’t sure if he would ever get tired of looking at that adult face. He remembered trying to picture what Five would look like as they grew up. Trapped alone in the dark. Just him and the ghosts in that god forsaken mausoleum. Thinking about Five helped distract him. He lost count how often he imagined what he looked like. Where he might be. Alternating between jealousy over his escaping and wishing that wherever he was that he was happy.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Five watched Klaus’ face carefully. He wasn’t sure what was going on in Klaus’ mind. “Klaus...are you okay?” He found being worried about someone who wasn’t his family very strange. Five always looked out for his family. Once he made the mistake of forgetting about what was important. It cost Four his life. He would never forget that lesson. 

He watched Klaus blink away the trouble dazed look that had come over his face. A shadow passed through those eyes. He could tell that Klaus had a past. Not a normal one. He had been through something that a normal person had not.  
“Klaus what do you mean that was the beginning of the end of your Umbrella Academy?” he asked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In the next chapter Five continues to learn about Klaus' past. He learns more about Klaus' life and decides that being raised as to stop crime does not guarantee you a better life than if you were raised to commit crimes. Or at least not when your dad is Sir Reginald Hargreeves.


	10. The Adventures of Klaus and Five Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Five learns more about Klaus. He also learns that the fallen Four was so much emotionally stronger than he ever gave him credit for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There are no clear details for the show or comics about when or how Ben dies.Though in the comics it happened on a mission gone wrong. I honestly don't remember if he was at the table in the scene where Five challenges Reginald about time travel. So for this story Ben dies after Five is gone.

Five gave Klaus a puzzled frown. “Klaus what happened to your group?” he asked. His mind was racing with all the possibilities. He remembered saying that their Six died. What had his name been? Ben? Hadn’t they wanted to avenge Ben? He had so many questions. But he was pretty sure that he shouldn’t press Klaus. Klaus was like no one he had ever met before. Yes he was very much like Four. But he was also different. It was hard to explain.

Klaus had said their father had only recently died. Had the old man driven their group apart? What was it like to be a group of heroes? The Others seemed morally uptight. They got hung up on such stupid things. They stood on their moral high ground. Didn’t understand them at all. That there was more to life than good and evil. But he had to admit being bad was so much more fun.  
~~~~~~~~~  
Klaus sighed. He had spent so many years trying not to think about things. Even when Ben was with him he didn’t think about it. He just tried to move forward. Chased his next high. He just needed to make the ghosts go away. Except Ben. Klaus didn’t know why he always saw Ben. Was it their emotional connection? Klaus had worked on his powers with Ben. Helped him change his appearance. When he first came to him he was blood soaked. And a child. That had been an unpleasant sight.

“Klaus what happened to your group?”

He looked up at the question. Five was giving him a deep searching look. Like he was trying to figure him out. Like if he tried hard enough everything would suddenly click into place. He would see the large picture. Everything would make sense. So he took a deep breath. “I’m going to tell you stuff no one outside of my family knows.”

He waited for Five to nod in acknowledgement.

“So Five didn’t come home that night. When I woke up I really thought he would be back” Klaus began. “One day turned into two. Days turned to weeks. You know how that goes. Dad didn’t talk about it. We didn’t talk about it. It was this horrible open secret. One day Dad put up this big oil painting of Five up. He said Five was gone and we had to move on. Which was strange because that was the first time he had said anything about Five in months.” 

He hesitated before continuing on. “He acted like Five was dead. But I knew he wasn’t.”

“How did you know?” Five asked.

“I didn’t….feel him.” He could tell that Five wasn’t really getting it. “I tried to see if he was in like, the great beyond or whatever.”

Five gave him a look of surprise. “You searched the beyond for your brother? But...Four hated his powers.”  
“Yeah they fucking suck.” Klaus agreed. “If I could have traded with anyone one of you guys I wouldn’t have...because I wouldn’t have wished my powers on anyone.”  
~~~~~~~~~  
“But talking to spirits seems helpful.” Five reasoned as he watched Klaus. “I mean they can’t physically hurt you. Can’t you just turn them out or something?” Four had said the ghosts couldn’t get physical with him. He watched in surprise as Five suddenly sat up and looked at him. He could tell something was off. Klaus had this...wild look in his eyes.

“You’re right. They couldn’t hurt me physically. Hey can I ask you a few questions?”

Five wasn’t sure where he was going with this. But he nodded. “Yeah. Go ahead Klaus.”

“Do you know what it feels like to be eight and have a woman with half her face missing tell you the story of when she finally had the courage to leave her abusive husband of five years he shot her in the face?” Klaus asked him.

Five shook his head. “Uh….no….” Before he could ask where he was going with this Klaus asked another question.

“And when you were ten did you have to explain to the sobbing ghost of a teenage girl that no you didn’t want to go find her mother and apologize on ghost girl’s behalf because she didn’t really mean to kill herself.”

Five wasn’t really sure what to say. But it was clear Klaus didn’t need him to say anything.

“Okay last one. How about this. When you were twelve did you have the ghost of a serial killer tell you all the things he loved to do to pretty little boys like you when he was alive? No? Guess that was just me then!”  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Klaus watched the dawning horror on Five’s face with grim satisfaction. He knew what the others thought about him. That seeing ghosts wasn’t that big a deal. That he was dramatic. Maybe just pretending to be scared of them for attention. Vanya’s book said he had been desperate for their father’s attention. It was why he acted out so much. She had no idea. None of them did. Well...Ben knew. But Ben knew everything about him. Saw his highs and his lows. Five said nothing.

“Yeah that’s what I thought.” he muttered.  
~~~~~~~~  
Five starred. Had Four gone through those things? He had no idea all this time. All those years he thought of Four and his powers were almost useless. And he hated himself. If Four and Klaus were the same in this instance, and he got a serious feeling that they were, then Four was stronger than he ever imagined. He stared at the man stretched out on his bed. It was like he was seeing him for the first time.  
“Klaus….I don’t know what to say.” he sighed. He felt so shitty for how he had thought and treated Four all those years.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Klaus waved his hand. “Don’t worry about it. Whatever you’re thinking about. It’s in the past. Just keep looking forward to Five.” he said looking at the other. “Maybe none of that stuff happened to Four. Maybe it did. I never reached out to the others because I thought it would make me weak. Maybe Four thought the same thing.”

He jumped to his feet. “Come on!” he said holding out his hand. Klaus watched Five’s face twist with confusion, yet he stood anyways. Once he was on his feet Klaus wrapped his arms around the other. Five was stiff as a board. “Wh-what are you doing?!”

Klaus pulled back with a grin. “That was called a hug. I hear it’s something some people do to comfort one another.”

“Why do you think I need to be comforted?!” Five asked looking like an annoyed cat. Klaus giggled at the thought.

Klaus looked up at Five. “Huh….never thought you’d be the tall one. You were such a little shrimp when we were kids.” He held out his hand to Five. “Come on Fiver. If you want to hear my origin story then you better get everyone together. I’m not going to keep telling this story to everyone! I don’t have time for that. Time is your thing.”  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Two and Six were still sitting in the kitchen. They were unofficially sulking. They had no idea what Five was doing with Klaus. Probably grilling the poor guy. Five was very scary when he wanted to be.

And then without warning Five and Klaus appeared in the kitchen. Two and Six both jumped to their feet. “I’m calling a meeting….get everyone together.” Five ordered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will be the family meeting! Thank you for reading. I appreciate your comments, kudos, and bookmarks.


	11. Family meeting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Klaus tells about his universe. About his Umbrella Academy. How it started. How it ended.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter that ended up being way longer than I expected. Originally I had thought to get the origin story and go over the apocalypse suite in one go. But I decided to break it up

As far as Two was concerned it made a lot more sense for Five to get everyone. He was the one who could just jump from room to room. But noooo he sent him and Six to do it. They weren’t going to argue of course. No one argued with Five. When you did he would just point out all the flaws in your argument until you felt silly. Seven was in her music room and made no protest over stopping to attend a family meeting. One was in the gym working out. He said that he would get cleaned up and join them shortly. And finally he found Three outside in the courtyard, sitting and reading a book.  
~~~~~~~  
Klaus sat in the living room besides Five. It was the same room they had family meetings back home. He remembered how he had spent half the meering behind the bar getting himself a drink, taking longer than necessary since no one would really listen to him anyways. His eyes darted to the bar and then away. He was doing the sober thing and that shit was hard.

He reached up and played with his dog tags. He missed Dave. He was pretty sure he would have stayed in the past if it meant Dave could be his future. And yes maybe that was selfish because it would have meant leaving his family behind to deal with the apocalypse. His biggest regret would have been the loss of Ben. But it had been so long since he had been that happy. So of course god wouldn’t let that shit fly. Klaus took a deep breath. Eyes closed he clenched and unclenched his fist, trying to gain control of himself.  
~~~~~~  
Five glanced over at Klaus who was sitting beside him. He noticed that he was playing with what appeared to be dog tags. Where Klaus had gotten them he had no idea. Now really wasn’t the time to ask about them. Klaus seemed to be having some kind of mental struggle. A part of Five wanted to ask if he was okay or not. But he wasn’t really sure how well that would go over. Five wasn’t really used to talking to people about their feelings. Actually just knowing he cared about them was a little weird for him.

Though before he could decide on whether or not to check on Klaus One joined them. They had been waiting on him. Five stood to draw attention to himself. “I’m sure you’re all wondering why I called a family meeting.” he began. “I’ve gotten to know Klaus more after speaking with him and I wanted to know more about his universe and his group. I feel this is knowledge we should all have so we can cut down on Klaus repeating himself.” This was a complete lie. Klaus was the one who wanted to do this in one sitting. But stretching the truth had never really bothered Five.

He sat down but as soon as he did Klaus whispered in his ear. “You really want me to say that?” he asked. Klaus whispered in his ear and in response Five gave an exaggerated sigh of annoyance.

“The following origin story has been approved for all audiences. It has been the result of real life events. Some names have been changed. Any resemblance to a real person or event in this universe is purely coincidental and is protected by copyright laws.” he said in a completely serious tone before looking at Klaus. “Happy?” Because he was looking at Klaus he completely missed how everyone was staring at him like he had lost his mind.  
One finally broke the silence. “Did….did Five just give Klaus’ story a disclaimer?” Everyone else nodded.  
~~~~~~~~  
Klaus jumped to his feet. It gave him an almost giddy sense knowing that people were actually going to listen to him. Not that he blamed his siblings. He had lied a lot in the past. Took money meant to help him get sober and spent it on drugs. He knew what his brothers and sisters thought about his addictions. That he had experimented with drugs for attention and just got hooked. Drugs had been his escape. They made the ghost shut the fuck and back off. Ben was the only exception. But Klaus felt it was because he let his brother in. His powers had developed over time. Though he had only recently started to make strides as his desire to have contact with Ben again.

“Once upon a time….on October first nineteen eighty nine….” he began

“Klaus!” Five snapped.

Klaus gave a groan. “Ohmigod let me set the mood already!” he whined. Five just glared at him so Klaus rolled his eyes as hard as he could before continuing. “Like I was saying. On october first Nineteen eighty nine forty three women gave birth without warning. And Sir Reginald Hargreeves decided to collect as many magic babies as he could.”

“Wait so the same thing happened in your universe?” Seven asked.

Klaus shrugged “More or less.”

“What does that mean?” One asked.

Klaus thought about the best way to deliver the biggest difference between the two groups. “What was your first mission as the Umbrella Academy?” he asked One.

“Bank Robbery.” One answered.

Klaus almost laughed.It was just too perfect. “Your first job was to rob a bank….my group’s first mission as the Umbrella Academy was to stop a bank from being robbed.”

He waited for it to sink in. It did not take very long.

“Are you serious?”

“You guys were heroes?!”

“Sounds boring!”

“Uhg...I bet they posed for pictures and everything.”

“Alright that’s enough!” Five announced. “Klaus continue.”

“Sir Reginald soon ran into a problem.” Klaus kept the story going. “He just did not have time to waste on keeping seven children alive. So he created an android to do that for him.”

“Caregiver.”

Klaus wiggled his hand a little. “Yes and no. For us she was more than a nanny. She was like a fifties housewife. Suddenly we were being tucked into bed at night and goodnight kisses. I was just four and asked if she was our mother. And she said if I wanted to call her that I could. That was how Grace Hargreeves became our mother. And that year for our birthday she named us.”  
~~~~~~~~  
Two felt a twinge of jealousy. Which was a bit surprising. He had never thought about wanting a mother. But seeing Klaus smile like that as he talked about having one….well maybe they had missed out on something big in this universe.  
~~~~~~~~~  
“I was always the odd little duckling. I didn’t like schedules. I didn’t like routine. I hated my powers. Seeing ghosts was fucking scary to a little kid! Hell, I was never going to be the perfect number Four dad wanted. I was more interested in being Klaus.” He felt his smile get a touch bitter. He had been different from the beginning.

“I wasn’t grasping my powers the way dad wanted me. Private lessons didn’t help me.” He swallowed the bile that always rose in his throat when he thought about those lessons. If you could call being locked in a mausoleum a lesson. God how he hated that fucking bastard!  
~~~~~~~~  
Six was watching Klaus like the others. He saw rage flash in those beautiful Hazel eyes. It made him wonder what had happened to Klaus. What was so bad about those private lessons that even after all these years they made Klaus angry? He knew perhaps it would be better to wait until later. But something in him urged him to find out more. “Klaus….what did you do for those lessons?” he asked hesitantly. 

He watched Klaus blink with surprise. As if that was one of the last questions he expected to be asked. Maybe that was why he gave a serious answer. 

“Dad would take me to cemeteries and lock me overnight in a mausoleum.”His usual casual and joking demeanor was gone.

Six sat in stunned silence.Four had been terrified of the ghosts he had to deal with. No one knew what to say. Not until Seven spoke up. “When did that start?”

“Ten.” Klaus answered.  
“The year you started smoking?” Two asked.  
~~~~~~~~  
Klaus nodded. “Cigarettes were my first attempt at distraction. I read somewhere that they were supposed to help you relax. From there I moved on to drinking and drugs. Those last two really did the trick. Because ghosts can’t get you when you are utterly fucked up.” He had never told his siblings an honest answer as to why he started taking things at such a young age. They assumed youthful rebellion and that seemed like an easy answer. He doubted they would have believed him anyways. They were all different from him from day one. One by one their powers emerged and were useful. A credit to the Academy. Even Ben who also disliked his powers.

“Are all our powers the same?” Seven asked him.

Klaus nodded. He pointed to each and listed their name and power. “Seven, you were named Vanya. And as for powers. Well this is where the story gets more messed up. Dad took it upon himself to be judge, jury, and executioner. He gave up on her ability to gain control. Decided her powers were too dangerous. So he put you on mood stabilizers and then had Allison rumor you to think she was ordinary. No powers. She grew up an outsider in her own home. We never questioned it but we should have. Honestly looking back I’m pretty sure Dad would have made arrangements to dump her on some one’s doorstep if she had really lacked powers. But he probably wanted to make sure she kept taking her meds.”

He could see a mixed reaction of shock and rage. Good. Vanya deserved it. She went through so much pain. They all did. And for what? To be a team of super heroes. 

Five prompted him and got him back on track. “Tell them about what broke your group.” he quietly suggested. 

“Ah yes. When we were thirteen Five wanted to work with time travel.” Klaus explained. “But dad said he wasn’t ready. Assumed that was that. But Five being Five he argued. Stormed off. And we didn’t see him again. Not for seventeen years.”

“Did your Five not get a name?” Three asked.

Klaus grinned, good humor returning. “Said he didn’t want one.”

“Figures.” Two muttered, making them all laugh. Except Five who glared.

“So Five disappearing broke your group?” Seven asked.

Klaus nodded. “It was the catalyst,” he explained. “When dad made it clear he thought Five was gone for good he started to push all of us more. We trained harder. I went to the mausoleum more regularly despite the mental and physical tolls. And then….it happened. We were exhausted and went on a mission. Something went wrong. Luther made a bad call…..Ben died.”

Klaus closed his eyes. He hated reliving the memory. But he could never forget. “We were all so sad and angry. I was getting high every chance I got. And when I was fourteen….I ran away.” He remembered how desperate he had been. When he had ran he had been scared someone would drag him back. But no one came after him. Then fear turned to freedom.

“One by one the others left to do their own thing. I don’t know when. But one day I saw Allison on the cover of a magazine. She was suddenly a celebrity. Diego I found out later tried to be a cop but he doesn’t really handle authority well so that didn’t work out. Vanya moved on. In the end only Luther was left. He was always the most loyal. Dad’s perfect number one. I don’t know if he really wanted to stay or if he felt he had to because everyone else left.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter Klaus will get to the apocolypse. The Numbers will have to help him get settled. Shopping trip!


	12. Fashion is the art. Designers are the Gods. Mortals play the part of angels in the dark.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And so Klaus wraps up the story of his universe and the apocalypse. It looks like he is staying with The Numbers for the time being. Some arrangements will have to be made.

Five didn’t really like how this conversation was going. He would have imagined that growing up to save the day would guarantee you a happy ending. It wasn’t like there was a group like his own to cause trouble. Or maybe in Klaus’ universe The Others were the bad ones? But wait he had had no idea who they were when he was questioned earlier. So perhaps they played no important role that Klaus was aware of.

Their group’s lives had started out the same way but had such a drastic twist. And all because of one little decision made by their father. To raise his collection of children as good or bad. Five was pretty sure they weren’t evil even though their moral compass wasn’t really on point. They had lost a member of their own family. But instead of turning on their father they turned their backs on one another. From the sound of it Klaus suffered serious emotional issues but his siblings never knew. How could they not notice his suffering?! Five felt his anger towards this unknown group growing more and more.

The death of Six…..Ben, was the fault of their father. But they were so good that they didn’t see it. Or maybe that version of Sir Reginald showed some form of remorse. It sounded like he had held out hope that Five would come back. But eventually moved on. 

“Klaus you said your Five didn’t come back. But it was your Five who got you lost in this universe.” he pointed out.  
~~~~~~~~~~  
Klaus looked over at Five. “I said he didn’t come back for seventeen years. He actually got stuck in the future. Dad was right and he hadn’t been ready. He could jump forward in time but not back. And the future he jumped to was after the apocalypse. He found himself standing in front of the Academy in burning ruins with all of our adult bodies in the rubble.” Not something he would want anyone to see.

A sad look came over Klaus’ face. “Five grew up alone in the aftermath of the end of the world. But he was a tough little bastard and made due. So much that he impressed this kind of….time agency. They monitor the entire universe or whatever. Make sure everything that is supposed to happen happens. Anyways they picked him up and taught him how to be a time assassin. Basically if some one is going to fuck up an important event or they need some one out of the way he was an agent that figured out who needed to die and made arrangements to take care of them.”

“Not that we knew any of this at the time. But while he was doing this Five was secretly working on a way to get back. He knew the date of the end of the world and he was determined to get back and stop it.”

“But you guys didn’t save the world.” One pointed out.

Klaus sighed. “No we didn’t. See Five being…..himself.” He gave a quick look at Five. “No offense.”

“None taken.” Five shrugged. “Yet.”

“I’ll take it.” Klaus decided. “Anyways. Because Five was a secret hoarding little shit….we kind of caused the apocalypse.” Klaus was pretty sure if Five had just been more open instead of going all lone cowboy on them then things would have turned out a lot differently. “But I get it. Five just wanted to protect us. So he decided the best course of action was to handle everything on his own.”

But then again because of how things went down he had met Dave. So...it wasn’t all bad. Of course the pain of losing the love of his life had almost been unbearable. But Klaus didn’t think he would want to live in a world where he had never met Dave. It was his first time being truly happy since Ben died. It was the first time he had felt good enough. Dave told him he was wonderful just the way he was. He listened to his stories and to be honest Klaus was never sure if he believed him or not. But Dave had made him promise to go home if things went wrong. Whether or not Dave believed that was going to be a plane ride or through the use of the briefcase he carried everywhere with him was a complete mystery.

“So long story short. The old man kicked the bucket and we all came back to the Academy. You know...because we only all came together for the important things in life.”

“Like what?” Three asked. 

“Weddings and funerals.” Klaus smiled. “So we all came back. Recently Vanya had written a scandalous tell all book about growing up as Number Seven. It was accurate enough to be a best seller for awhile. Of course part of that was because dad kept tight control of us. So the media only got so much of us.” She had been so wrong about so many things. She hadn’t understood what it was to be him or any of them. It was all about an outsider looking in. Still it was enough. “Sibs were pretty damn pissed about it though. My chapter was hardly flattering”

“Klaus you’re losing your train of thought.” Five pointed out. Which got Klaus back on track.

“Right, right. Anyways as usual we were bickering amongst ourselves. We had just eulogised dad when a vortex of blue appeared and out popped Five. Not a day older than when he had left! Turns out he didn’t carry the three or whatever so he came back as a fifty something year old man in a thirteen year olds body. So awkward. He warned us that the end of the world was coming but that was it. He didn’t know what had caused it. Just had a date for when it happened. Which was in eight days time. We tried to figure things out and failed in the most spectacular fashion.”

He sighed a bit and looked at Seven. “At that point in time we didn’t know Vanya had powers. But someone else did. And he spent quite a bit of time weaseling his way into her life. Tricking her into getting off her meds so she could discover them and he could play the dutiful suitor and encourage her to explore them. Jokes on him. Asshole pushed her too far. She snapped and came back to the Academy. Destroyed the place and had plans to destroy the world I guess? Not really sure about that part. We fought her but she blasted the moon. Causing chunks to crash into Earth. We all thought we were going to die. But then Five said he thought he could save us.”

“So he jumped you all…..but you lost your grip.” Six guessed. Klaus nodded and sat down.   
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
No one knew what to say. Three looked around and finally stood. “Well Klaus. Since you’re here to stay for the time being I suggest we go shopping!” she smiled.

Klaus looked bewildered. “What….why?”

Three made an up and down hand gesture. “Well all you have to your name is what you’re wearing right? So that means we need to buy you some clothes. Five can work on trying to get you back home. Or hell your own Five might come to get you. You can’t borrow from someone's closet forever. So why not come shopping?”

“I’ll have you know I have raided Allison’s closet on several occasions and I can rock her skirt better than her any day!” Klaus exclaimed making Three giggle. “Whatever. Let's go!” When she pulled Klaus out of the room Six and Two followed.She supposed she really shouldn’t be surprised. They had already fought over him. So of course they would want to go where Klaus was going. Still she had to ask. “What are you two doing?” she demanded hands on her hips.

“We….want to come too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading.The next chapter will be the shopping trip. But what would you guys like to see happen in this story?. I have ideas but I would honestly like to know what you guys think. I'm hoping to start developing the potential romantic relationships soon. The competition for Klaus' heart is about to begin!


	13. Beauty is a trade and everyone gets paid.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Klaus and some of The Numbers head out. And even though it seems impossible The Numbers get even more attached to Klaus.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry I haven't updated in so long! About Klaus' original siblings I will be doing a chapter about what they are doing next. A lot of people have been asking about them. About the Commission they will not be in this story. I think if you're not prepared for them then there is no way to stop them from getting the job done. So I'm going to stick with what happened in season one and keep it that Five has shut them down for the foreseeable future. Which he was able to do because that version of Five had been one of them. He knew how they operated.

Five stared at Three and Klaus for a few moments before his eyes flicked to Two and Six. He did agree that since Klaus was going to be staying with them then he needed some things of his own.

“Seriously you guys.” Klaus protested. “I can hit up a homeless shelter and score some clothes easy peasy. Or go raid one of those donation bins outside of a grocery store. Just have to wait until it’s late and there you go!”

Five scowled. The ease in Klaus’ tone said that he had done this before. Not for the first time he wondered what had happened to Klaus after he left the Academy. Things must have been bad for him to run away from the only life he knew at such a young age. “Out of the question. Three take him shopping!” he ordered. Five decided to ignore her eye roll. They both knew it was going to happen whether he said yes or no. His agreeing just made things easier.

“Uh….Two and Six want to come with us.” Klaus pointed out. 

Five sighed. Those two going with could cause serious trouble. Why were they so attached to Klaus? He had been with them less than a day! Not that Five didn’t feel his own pull towards Klaus. But he just had better control over his emotions. The four of them , spelled potential disaster. They needed one more person to help keep things in check. “Seven….go with them.” he finally ordered. Seven was his second in command. She understood him the best. The others respected her and her power.

“Sure.” Seven replied as the others nodded their agreement.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Klaus was absolutely fascinated by the dynamics of this group. While he wasn’t surprised that Seven and Five were close, after all Vanya had supported Five back home, he found it interesting how the others just accepted Seven. He was pretty sure that Five had chosen her to help keep things from getting too crazy. Back home, first off, Vanya would have never been chosen. Second If she had been chosen the pick would probably get over ruled because they would just all talk over her. Luther would say something. Diego would argue with him. Vanya would make attempts to settle the peace. Allison would probably back up Luther. And finally Five would just walk out of the room and leave all the noise and chaos behind him. Klaus was sure he and Ben would just be trying to stay out of the way. Though Ben would have something amazing to say. Klaus didn’t remember Ben being so funny when he was alive. But then again both of them had been adorable little balls of anxiety when it came to their powers at that age.

He followed the others out of the room. “So how is this going to go down?” he questioned. “Do I need a mask or something?”

Three laughed. “If you’re trying to ask if we are going out as the Umbrella Academy then the answer is no.” she replied “We do know how to go out and blend into society.” Of course that didn’t mean they were going to be doing things completely legal. That would just be boring. They were all dressed casually for once. Two usually favored his leather outfit with lots of places for knives. Since Three was going to drive she grabbed the keys to her favorite ride. “Klaus, up front with me.” she said to prevent an argument over who would get to sit next to him.  
~~~~~~~~~~  
Klaus couldn’t help but be a little excited. He didn’t think he had ever been on an actual shoppin trip.As children they wore their Academy uniforms. Sure he would sneak into Allison’s or their mothers closet for skirt or heels but that was different. And after he ran away he had done a lot of things he wasn’t proud of to get money. He usually got his clothes from donation bins. He always saved his money for as many drugs as he could get his hands on.

He found these other version of his family absolutely fascinating. They looked so similar but they were so different. Maybe it was just the way they were raised. Even as they bickered and joked around with one another there was an undercurrent in the air that whispered ‘danger’. They had done and seen some pretty bad stuff. Their humor seemed a touch dark. Like his own. Was that why he felt so at ease? He felt like he didn’t need to hide things. That he could speak and they would listen to him. Not that he blamed his siblings. He had put them through a lot over the years. But hell….what he said did have value sometimes. These guys seemed like if Four went missing they would know. They wouldn’t let strangers hurt him. Would they have stood up if Four said he needed help? Klaus used to wonder how different his life would have been if someone had listened to him, instead of writing him off as being dramatic.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Two was annoyed that Three had decided that Klaus would sit up front with her. Still he didn’t argue. He opened his mouth to suggest that perhaps Seven would be more comfortable sitting up front. Then he could take the middle seat and box Six out! But as if reading his mind just as he opened his mouth Seven looked at him and raised one amused eyebrow. Dammit she had him! Not for the first time he wondered if Seven could read minds and had just never told anyone. That sounded like something she would do. Defeated he walked outside to the car.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Seven couldn’t help but smile at Two’s antics. He was so obvious sometimes. His emotions were all over the place really. She could tell Six was holding out a little better but just barely. They stepped outside and she noticed Klaus pause on the steps. He stared off into the distance for a few moments before his gaze moved to a different spot.

“Are you looking at the ghosts?” she asked quietly. When he jumped and then gave a sheepish look she spoke before he did. She had her answer anyways. “Four would do that too. As soon as he walked out the door. You are both very subtle about it.”

“Yeah well a lot of the times if you act like you can’t see them they don’t notice you.” he said softly. “But yeah...I like to see who’s hanging around. Let me know what to prepare for.”

Seven nodded and took hold of his hand. “You don’t have to be afraid…..we’re here with you.”  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Klaus stared at Seven. He couldn’t help himself. His siblings had always thought seeing ghosts wasn’t that bad. That he should just ignore them. Ben kind of understood but he never told them how bad it really got. He kept it to himself. The more scared he got the more ashamed he felt. The louder their father got, telling him that he was a failure. He had just been a little boy and had felt all alone. So how was it that when he was in a completely different universe that he felt at home?

He gave Seven a small smile and squeezed her hand before going to get into the car.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Six had noticed Klaus hanging back with Seven. He didn’t know what they were talking about. Klaus had been looking around and then Seven said something and took his hand. Klaus looked startled at first and then….well Six didn’t know how to explain the look that came over Klaus’ face. Wonder came close but it wasn’t quite it.

The drive to the mall was uneventful. Mostly due to the seating arrangement. They entered the mall just as calm as you please. No one had any idea that members of the infamous Umbrella Academy. Though watching everyone scream and run would probably be pretty funny. But that would ruin the trip for sure….maybe at the end?  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Three found a directory and scanned the clothing stores. After making her choice she took Klaus’ hand to pull him along, just in case it wasn’t clear that she was in charge. Out of the six of them Three always had the most fashion flare. She cared about what they wore when they had to go undercover. By the time anyone ever figured anything out it was far too late.

She had to admit that Klaus had a good eye for color and fit. She was delighted at his eye for fashion. “Everyone else is so hopeless. I’m always putting together our undercover looks.” she complained dramatically.

“You get weird about our choices.” Six pouted.

“I’m ignoring you.” Three announced. She didn’t think they had ever gone out and had fun like this. When Klaus came out in miniskirt and belly shirt she gave a shriek of laughter. Klaus was so outrageous. She saw Seven nudge both Six and Two and mutter something about wiping their faces. She wondered if Seven was being serious or not.

“Let's wrap this up.” she decided. She had Two and Six gather what they were keeping and ignored the disaster area that was now the changing rooms.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Klaus had been wondering what was going to happen when they got to the register. He watched as the cashier rang everything up and took off the tag. Then ever so casually Three leaned in a little and whispered a rumor. She handed the cashier a check and they left.

“Did you seriously just pay with a check?” he asked Three. She laughed and he couldn’t help but smile.

“We have a system.” Three explained. “Five made us a device that scrambles the security footage. All the faces become blurred. All that was written on the check was ‘You have just become patrons of the Umbrella Academy.’ I rumored that the cashier in to thinking it was a normal check. They won’t know what happened until after we’re gone.” She had picked the biggest department store for a reason. So they would have the best selection.

“Does that bother you?” Six asked. “We just stole quite a lot of money in clothes and accessories.” He knew the others would be curious. After all Klaus had been taught to be good at his Umbrella Academy. That stealing was wrong.

Klaus surprised them all by snorting. “Oh please that wasn’t my first time at the five finger discount rodeo.” he laughed. He was as calm as any of them even though people would soon be scrambling to find out what happened. “Hope no one gets fired over this.” 

Seven thought about it. “Eh….probably not.”

Klaus nodded as they walked outside. “I’ll take it.”   
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
He missed the look the Numbers exchanged. They would have thought he might be a little bothered by the fact that someone might lose their job because of what happened. But he seemed fine.

“Fuck we need to keep him.” Two said softly to the others. They didn’t give any sign of agreement….but they also didn’t give a sign of disagreement.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Even if I don't get chapters up as regularly as I would like I will try to give you guys decent length. I know what I'm reading a story and I see that I'm half way through the chapter but there's still so much left it really makes me happy. So my aim is around a thousand words or more.


	14. Author note

Sorry this isn't a chapter. But I just wanted to let you know that I just noticed part of the last chapter didn't get included. But I fixed that. I was fighting off the siren call of night time sinus medicine when I was finishing up. Which is probably why I missed that last chunk when I was copying and pasting.


	15. This is what you want, this is what you get

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time to check in with the Originals

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry I haven't posted in so long. I hope everyone has been doing well. I just finished binge watching season 2 and while getting new information is great my age for when Ben died of off compared to cannon. To be honest I still think TUA kids looked much younger than the age they are supposed to be. That's all I'm going to say. I'm sticking to what I have set up.

Diego had no idea what had just happened. Well, he knew one thing Five had done something and it hurt. Okay, he knew two things, so it seemed like things were slowly improving over time. With more effort than he wanted to exert he opened his eyes and blinked a few times. Above him was an intact ceiling. That was weird. Last thing he remembered was looking up at the huge ass hole in the ceiling and seeing part of the moon falling towards earth. He had been holding onto his brother’s hand as Five tried to jump them somewhere in time. He wasn’t really sure what the plan was. 

Sitting up he was pleased to see that he was in his normal adult body. Another mark on the list of positives. He kind of remembered being in his ten or eleven year old body, but he wasn’t completely sure about that. He couldn’t help but notice that they were still in the theater. But it looked….better. And not just because nothing was destroyed.

“Is everyone okay?”  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
“Klaus is gone.” Ben knew no one could hear him but he couldn’t just stay silent. He had no idea what was going on. He remembered holding onto Klaus’ hand, until he wasn’t anymore. Ben couldn’t remember a time after his death when he had been without Klaus.He had gotten the chance to move on but hadn’t been able to.At first it had been because he was scared. When Klause pulled him back he had been hesitating. Or at least that was what he had thought at first, later upon thinking about it he realized he had been hesitating for a long time. But now he knew part of it was that he couldn’t leave Klaus alone. They had always been close as they grew up.

Everyone had amazing powers and the vyed for their father’s love and attention.Everyone wanted to be the best. Luther and Diego had been fighting for the role of leader, Allison had been fighting to show she was just as good as the boys, Five hadn’t fought to show off but that was more due to his superiority complex, and of course Vanya wasn’t even in the running back then. Though in her own way she clawed out an existence for herself.

And then there was Klause and himself. They were similar, both disliked their powers. Ben was scared of whatever was inside him. Klause was afraid of the ghosts his powers let him see. But they had one another and that was enough. For years Ben had let himself believe Klaus pulled him back and there was little choice, that he had believed Klaus when he said it was fine to stay. It wasn’t, there was an ongoing battle of will to stay with Klaus. But now? Now he was here all alone. With his family yet at the same time all alone.

“Everyone okay?” Diego asked again.

“Y-yeah I think so.” Allison answered slowly.

Ben couldn’t take it. “No you’re not all alright. Klaus is gone!” he shouted. “For once in your fucking lives notice him!!” No one reacted to his words, that wasn’t surprising but he wasn’t going to give up. He had to find a way to make them see.  
“Where are we?” Luther asked.

“When is a better question.” Five grumbled.

“You don’t know?!”Diego demanded.

“Look I just wanted to take us to the past, but not too far.” Five grumbled.

“I miss you guys so much.” Ben sighed. “But sometimes I really dislike you all.”  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Diego was glad everyone seemed to be okay, but he felt like something was wrong. And then it hit him. “Klaus!” he exclaimed, making everyone look at him. “W-where is he?!” Klaus wasn’t with them! How had he not noticed that right away?! It was coming back to him. He had been holding onto Klaus’ hand but it slipped in the jump. He knew none of them knew who was older and who was younger, but he had always tried to look after Klaus. 

*Flashback begin*  
Diego tried not to fidget as he and the others waited for the father to come down to breakfast. He looked at Klaus’ empty spot. Where was he? Had Dad found out he was smoking? Maybe it was worse and he found out about the drinking. Diego hated that Klaus was doing that to himself.He was getting worse and Klaus didn’t know what to do. The fourteen year old felt helpless because he couldn’t help his brother. He looked at the others and just as he was about to ask their mother where their brother was the father came in.

Sir Reginald marched to the head of the table. “You may sit.” he announced. Diego sat along with the others, it was all one fluid movement. But then something strange happened, dad stayed standing. Which meant he had an announcement. Diego felt his stomach twist. “Children. Number Four is gone, he will not be returning to the Academy again.” And then he sat.

A silence settled over the table as they all looked at one another. Diego knew they were all thinking the same thing. “Is he okay?” Maybe their father had reached his limit with Klaus. While he secretly admired Klaus for his spirit but he knew Sir Reginald did not. Diego swallowed at the glare he got.

“Number Four has left the Academy. That is all you need to know Number Two!”

“Y-yes sir.” Diego hated that he had stuttered just now. He quickly started to eat.

*End Flashback*

He had been devastated when he eventually found out from Pogo that Klaus had run away, after that he had felt hurt and betrayed. Why hadn’t Klaus come to talk to him? What had been so bad that he felt the only option was to slip away in the dead of the night? He was shaken from his thoughts by a polite but firm cough. Diego’s hand went for a knife and was ready to throw when he turned to face whoever it was.

“If you will please come with me I will take you somewhere before you are arrested for trespassing.” a very familiar voice called out.

“Pogo?!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What the heck is Pogo doing there?! It's like he expected them to be there. Cue the dramatic music!!


	16. You Crack The Whip, Shape Shift And Trick The Past Again.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Originals are taken back the the Academy. Ben comes along for the ride. Diego finds a window into Klaus' past.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know normally I give one person a perspective at a time. But for Ben I'm sprinkling his commentary in with the others when he doesn't have enough to say to get his own dedicated part. I got a little swept up in what season two made cannon concerning Ben being brought back but I think I've thought of some much more interesting insight

Ben was as surprised as the rest of the group at the appearance of Pogo. How had he known to come get them? Wasn’t it dangerous to interact with people in the past? They could change the future after all! He hated that he wasn’t surprised that it took so long to notice Klaus was gone. “Well at least they noticed.” he grumbled. He felt alone without Klaus. They had been together so long that he forgot what it felt like to have no one hear him. Yes Klaus often ignored his advice and called him names, but he spoke to him. He knew he was there. Where was Klaus? Or maybe better yet when was Klaus? Five had taken them to the past. Since Klaus wasn’t there Ben was worried that he had been dropped in some other time. What if he was hundreds of years away?! What year were they in? Pogo was there and he certainly looked younger.

“Sorry Pogo we aren’t going anywhere until we figure out where Klaus is.” Diego said, crossing his arms over his chest.

Ben gave Diego some credit. He was just as self absorbed as the others most of the time but at least in adulthood he made attempts to reach out to Klaus and take care of him in a way no one else tried to do. Ben admitted that there were times when he had been just a little bit jealous. He took care of Klaus as best he could but he was emotional support at the end of the day. He hated it, and a small part of him had hated Diego at first. With time the feeling lessened, but he could never love any of his siblings as he once had aside from Klaus. 

“If you will follow me all will be explained.” Pogo answered patiently.  
~~~~~~~~~~  
Diego wanted to stay, to figure out where Klaus was. But everyone else was leaving. He looked around for someone to support him. To say they wanted to know where Klaus was, that they were worried. 

Allison put a hand on his arm. “We’ll find Klaus.” she said softly. “Clearly Dad knows something or else he wouldn’t have known to send Pogo.

Diego didn’t reply right away. He hated not knowing what was going on. He sighed and nodded slowly following Luther who had picked up Vanya. He had to admit the musical hall looked a lot better without impending doom hanging over their head. Stepping out into the street he blinked in the sunlight and looked around. Things seemed so normal.

“This way.” Pogo said as he led them to the family car. Christ he hadn’t seen that hunk of junk in years. Well it wasn’t really a hunk of junk currently. But he still hated it. He felt like they were wasting time. 

“What do you know about Klaus?!” he demanded.

“You know he isn’t going to tell you.” Ben muttered.

“All in due time my boy.” the chimpanzee said in a cheerful tone.  
“Told you.” Ben muttered. He knew no one could hear him, but he was just so used to talking to Klaus that he couldn’t stay silent. The ride back to the Academy was uneventful. Ben wasn’t quite sure what year it was just by looking around. He had to admit that the Academy did look better than it regularly did when they got back. Ben was glad when Luther set Vanya down on a couch instead of trying to lock her up again, even though she was still unconscious. 

The Academy seemed still and empty. This was the past, so where were their younger selves? Wasn’t it dangerous to be here of all the places in the world? Clearly not if they were here. Somehow their father knew they would end up coming back to the past, maybe the risk of them seeing their younger selves was worth them messing up the world some other way. How Reginald Hargreeves knew what would happen was as much a mystery as how he seemed to know what to do to bring them all together in the present.

“Should we be here?” Luther asked. Ben wandered about the room trying to figure out the date.

“What year is it?” Five asked, ignoring Luther’s question completely. Ben wasn’t surprised in the least.

“It is the spring of 2002.” Pogo answered. 

Five frowned, the date would mean nothing to him since it was after he had disappeared.

“Oh.” Allison said as she got it.

“What?” Five asked, eyes narrowed in suspicion.

“That’s the year when Dad took us for a sudden training mission to China.” she mused.

“How long where you gone?” Five asked.

“I don’t really remember.” Allison admitted.

“Useless!” Five muttered.

“Hey!” Luther shouted.

Ben sighed and slipped upstairs. He didn’t feel like sitting around for the argument that was about to happen. Instead he went upstairs and soon found himself in Klaus’ old room. He sat on the bed and looked around. He had to admit he was a little disappointed that he was already dead.This was one of the darkest times in Klaus’ life. When the door opened Ben was surprised to see Diego. “Great minds think alike.” he muttered with a small smile.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Diego didn’t know why he had come to Klaus’ room. Luther and Five were fighting and who knew how long that could go on. He just….didn’t want to deal with it. Diego didn’t know if he was disappointed or relieved that they wouldn’t be running into their younger selves. A part of him had wanted to see young Klaus again. They were thirteen, by this time next year Klaus would be gone. Maybe, just maybe if he had gotten a chance to see Little Klaus he might have gotten a chance to talk to him. To ask what was wrong, what was going on in his life that was so bad that he would run away. 

Why? Why hadn’t he noticed Klaus’ pain? He tried to think back to that time. He had been so sad and...angry. Angry all the time, at dad, Luther, himself, the world, and sometimes Klaus. They were all still grieving in their own way. Emotions all over the place as they stumbled through puberty. He closed his eyes, the room smelled like smoke. Like Klaus had lit something on fire again.

“You know he did that to cover up the scent of weed right?” Ben asked with a sigh. “Klaus was screaming at the top of his lungs and no one ever heard him!” Ben felt himself getting angry. They were all broken toys even back then but they just hadn’t seen it. He felt the horror in him shift angrily. “You all left him alone!” He swiped his arm over the desk and was startled when a book fell.

Diego jumped when a book fell off Klaus’ desk at random. He looked around but saw no one. For A moment he couldn’t help but wonder. Was Be here or was he whenever Klaus was. To be honest he hoped it was the second. If Ben was with Klaus then he wouldn’t be alone. Picking up the book he opened it. He remembered these books. Pogo had given them each a blank journal to record their thoughts, a form of therapy he supposed.Diego opened to the front page and his eyes went wide as he started to read the first page..

Dear Ben,  
So Pogo gave us these journal things to record our thoughts. I guess so he and the old man can read what’s going on. I bet Luther’s ready like an essay. Well nuts to that. I have already told mom that I accidentally burned my journal. I was sent to my room without dinner, but it’s worth it because now I have two. One decoy waste of time for Dad to read, and one real one just in case this actually helps me. I don’t think I’ll be going back to read these and writing to no one seems dumb. So I’ll write to you Benny Boy. You’ve been gone for a month and I miss you. I feel your soul out there, so I know you haven’t moved on yet.

Are you waiting to say goodbye? I can’t imagine you having unfinished business or something stupid like that. How can we have unfinished business when we’re not even really living a real life? I still hate it here. Still hate the ghost. But now I wonder. If I try hard enough can I reach you? I love you Ben. 

Talk to you soon,  
Klaus.

Diego almost dropped the journal. He remembered these, remembered the lecture on responsibility they had all gotten after Klaus lost his own, after that Klaus was taken into the library for a private lecture and then got sent to his room for the night. He smiled a little, of course Klaus had gone and done his own thing. He sat down on the bed and started to read. Maybe he could get some insight on Klaus.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Diego will continue to read Klaus' letters to Ben. Unfortunately he will learn just how much they all failed Klaus. But this could be the fuel he needs to get the others in gear to find their missing brother. One thing is for certain. Diego will NEVER fail Klaus again if he can get him back.


	17. I'm Feeling nice, Here's Some Advice, Listen Up Biactch! Love Klaus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Diego continues to read Klaus' letters to Ben and gets a peek into the life of the brother he never understood.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At first this was going to be one huge chapter but I'm breaking it up because I thought of two titles, couldn't decide which one to use, so I decided to do both. This chapter mentions Klaus' drug use and under age drinking. He also talks about that serial killer ghost he told Other Five about. No details but I thought I should warn people.

Diego sat down on the small bed with Klaus’s….diary? Journal? Letters to Ben? He wasn’t sure what exactly to call the notebook in his hands. A small part of him wondered if he should be doing this. Wasn’t this an invasion of young Klaus’ privacy. Maybe in a way Ben’s as well.

“Go for it.” Ben said from the window where he stood. He knew a lot of what was in the journal because Klaus had told him about it. There were things in there that Diego needed to know if he really wanted to understand Klaus and help him one day. Ben decided he wasn’t going to think if but only when. When they found Klaus, not if. 

Diego flipped to the next page and began to read.

Dear Ben,  
I am drunk! Tonight was the mayor’s birthday. Dad trotted us out like trick ponies like usual. Gotta keep up in the public eye beyond just fighting crime. Remember how we used to sneak away when the crowd was distracted by the more public friendly powers of Luther, Diego,and Allison? Well and Five when he was here.

This was our first year without you. And it suuuuuuuucked. That is until I snuck off with the mayor’s son and we got drunk in the library. John is home from college and hot as fuck. We made out. He kind of knows what it’s like to be in the public eye. Not a bad kisser, not that I have a lot of experience. But alcohol helps to dull the voices. So….yay. I think I’m going to throw up.

Talk to you soon,  
Klaus

Diego frowned a bit. What the hell was some college guy doing drinking with a fucking thirteen year old?! He tried to think back to those parties, but all he could remember was how uncomfortable he felt in his suit. He did remember having to throw knives for the crowd. Klaus wasn’t kidding when he mentioned party friendly powers. Had Klaus and Ben always snuck off alone? What had Klaus and that shit done? Apparently not more than kissing. Probably all they could get away with before Dad noticed him missing. Shaking his head he continued to read.

Dear Ben,  
It’s true what they say. Money makes the world go round, it’s the only explanation I can think of for why a man like Dad was given seven babies.When I see Luther and Diego fighting for the position of leader, of Dad’s approval it makes me laugh. It’s funny because it’s so not funny. The world is enamored with their golden team of children super heroes, the beloved Umbrella Academy. But what they don’t know if that it’s just false gold that can be scraped away.

Spent another lovely night in the mausoleum last night. These special night training sessions will be the death of my. Fingers crossed! I’m so tired Ben. But I’ve found a new distraction. Now I know you won’t approve Ben but I tried weed last night. It was amazing. I found my way out Ben! Drugs! Drugs are the fucking best. They make the ghosts be quiet.

Last night was bad. Mr. Andrew was there. He had such a new batch of stories for me. Who is Mr. Andrew you ask? Well you see he’s a ghost. He found me when I was twelve. He’s a serial killer who targeted little boys. Christ on a cracker I am amazed that I’ve kept my sanity with the likes of him around. The others tell me the same things. “They can’t touch you Klaus.” “Just ignore them Klaus.” “Stop being so dramatic Klaus.” That last one is my favorite. Doubt Luther would be so quick to judge if he had to sit with Mr. Andrew and be told what he liked to do with pretty eyed boys like him. Wouldn’t be so damn cocky then would he? 

That crying girl ghosts is out on the sidewalk as I’m writing. I know she’s sad because her cry for attention went wrong and she actually died. No Ben I am not being insensitive. I did what you suggested and tried talking to her when she first showed up since she was less terrifying than the other ghosts I normally see. She’s annoying as fuck and no I do not want to go find her mom and tell her she’s sorry.She was a spoilt little brat when she was alive. Boring too, seriously, if you’re going to try and boss me around at least try to have a personality! I’ve got shit to do and this isn’t an episode of some shitty drama show on TV. She’s been bugging me for over half a year. Get an after life.

I’m getting off topic. Long story short….yay for drugs!

I miss you more and more each day

Talk to you soon,  
Klaus

Diego stared, to be honest he had always thought that Klaus started taking drugs and drinking as his way to rebel. A way to get attention even if it was negative. It was what they had all thought, even Vanya according to her book. He had never really thought that much about it.

He was also guilty of thinking that Klaus should just ignore the ghosts since they couldn’t physically hurt him But god….he had no idea what kinds of ghosts his brother had been seeing all those years. No little kid should have to deal with that!! He hadn’t known that the ghosts came after Klaus asking for help. That was pretty heavy, no wonder Klaus seemed numb to it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Please review, they make me happy and want to write more.


	18. Dear Ben, Dear Diego

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Diego learns that he messed up, they all did. But he is sure as hell going to make sure they fix things. Ben thinks about what really happened when he and Klaus met again after his death...it's a little different than what you think.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapters has mention of bad sexual things happening to little Klaus and talk of a suicide attempt.

A part of Diego wanted to stop reading, but he knew he couldn't. He owed it to Klaus. He couldn't help him back then, by come hell or high water he was going to help him now.

Dear Ben,  
So sex is overrated. It’s scary and violent. And I don’t think I’m okay Ben. God, I need you here. I need you here so much. I’m so scared and I feel alone all the damn time. I hate this place. I can’t keep doing this. Why is it so hard without you? Why can’t anyone here even try to understand me? Ben….I hate my life.

Talk to you soon.  
Love,  
Klaus

There was something about the sign off that made Diego feel uneasy, even though it was how he ended all his letters to Ben. At first he thought it was because Klaus would write again soon, or that he hoped to be able to conjure Ben. But this time it felt….different. Diego didn’t like it. Unease mixed with murderous rage that urged him to hunt down the person who had hurt his brother.

The more Diego read the more he hated his past self. Had it really been that hard to take the time to talk to his brother. Instead he remembered being confused and upset over Klaus getting high all the time. And because he didn’t know how to process emotion like a normal human being he got annoyed with Klaus, tried tough love when he failed at trying to talk about it. He didn’t know how long he had been sitting there reading. When he got to the last entry his eyes went wide.

Dear Diego,  
.I’m supposed to be getting ready for the China trip. But I need to write this now. You’re probably wondering why I left this journal in your room. I wonder if you’ll read it all the way to the end. By the time you find this I will be gone. I can’t stay here any longer. The ghosts are just too much. I know you all think I should just ignore the ghosts but the problem is more complicated than that. Actually….I tried to kill myself but it didn’t work. Something about my powers must have brought me back. So looks like all those dumb PSA’s we watched were true and death isn’t the answer. So I’m leaving the academy. I’m never going to be the Number Four dad wants me to be. I want to see who Klaus can be. 

But don’t worry about me. I won’t be alone. I finally did it, I conjured Ben. Looks like Dad locking me up surrounded by the dead finally paid off. But then I got to thinking. No I did not hurt my head, shut up. Why the hell should he be stuck here? Why should any of us stay here? This spur of the moment training trip seems a little weird am I right? Well one last hurrah before I go since I can’t get out of it. Plus my Chinese is sub par at best so I have to wait. I guess I’m leaving you this because Dad being the emotional constipated sadist he is will probably sweep my leaving under the rug. No fancy statue or oil painting for the family fuck up. I hope you get whatever makes you happy. Whether it’s finally beating Luther or getting out of here. 

I just want someone to know that I didn’t make this choice lightly. I’m at the end of the line Diego. There is nothing here or me any longer. I don’t know where I’ll go or what I’ll do to take care of myself. But my life will be my own for better or worse. 

I love you,  
Klaus.

Diego felt like a bucket of ice water had been dumped over him. He had blocked out so much of his childhood. Now when he needed to remember it was coming back in small drips. Had they been in China so long that they had their fourteenth birthday there or had it happened shortly after they came home?  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Ben watched Diego as he read the last entry. He could see the hurt and confusion on his face. He could tell that Diego never found this notebook. That he was trying to figure out why he had never noticed it somewhere in his room. Maybe a small part of him was hoping Klaus had forgotten to leave it. Though Ben knew deep down Diego knew it was there somewhere. Ben knew Klaus had left it before they left and had stayed a few days after in hopes Diego would stop him. But it never happened.

There was a little more to that story than even Klaus knew. Ben honestly wasn’t sure how long he had stayed in limbo. One day Klaus had been there. He had been so happy to see him that it didn’t immediately occur to him that Klaus had died or at the very least was a dying.They hugged and cried until finally Klaus had told him what happened. He knew Klaus had a choice to make, but he also knew what choice Klaus would make once he realized there was one. Something felt wrong about this. It wasn’t his time.

So he made a deal with Klaus. They would go back together. It had taken Ben a while to remember things correctly. He didn’t know if Klaus didn’t remember what had really happened because of the drugs or it was a side effect of coming back. Either way by the time he remembered it didn’t really matter anymore. So he went with the story that Klaus asked him to stay and he had.  
~~~~~~~~~~~

Diego marched down stairs. He stormed into the living room, he could hear Five’s raised voice and gave zero fucks about what that little narcissist was upset about now. He stormed into the room, picked up a vase and threw it against the wall, the crash was very satisfying. It also got everyone’s attention on him. “Everyone shut the fuck up. We are going to get our fucking act together. We are going to learn how to be a family. Luther you are going to stop trying to control everything. We aren’t the Umbrella Academy anymore. You wasted your life for dad, stop making that everyone else problem. Five, you are going to get the hell over yourself. You are going to stop playing lone cowboy because you think you’re better than everyone else. That’s how we got into this mess. Instead of stopping to explain everything you tried to do everything yourself. We are going to get our shit together, show Vanya we love her, and save Klaus.

Before anyone could say anything he threw the journal down onto the end table. “But first, you guys are going to read that so we can all be on the same page about how much we failed our lost brother.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh damn Diego has his serious pants on! I think we've seen enough of the Originals for now. Next chapter we go back to Klaus and the numbers. Please review I need them. Thank you for reading.


	19. I'll Raise You A Five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We see Five's (the Original) reaction to Klaus' journal of letters to Ben. He remembers some things from his childhood and realizes he's made some mistakes.

Five was angry, the list was quite long. Luther, Dad, Diego,the world, his lack of control, his present self, but the one he was probably the most angry with was his past self. Why hadn’t he noticed Klaus was in pain? He had been so obsessed with reaching the next level, with being the best. He had secretly thought of himself as the most powerful but was smart enough not to try for the spot of leader, it was easier to let Diego and Luther squabble over that. Though he did make sure they knew he was smarter and therefore better than they were.

He hadn’t thought much about Klaus, as far as powers were concerned he was certainly the runt of the litter. Not counting Vanya but really no one ever thought about her back then. But back to Klaus, god sometimes Five felt like he had lived several lifetimes. And then there was that damn journal Diego had found. The insight it gave him into Klaus’ life was….disturbing. To think he had grown up in the aftermath of the end of the world focused on survival and haunted by thoughts of what he would have done differently, only to get back and just fuck up everything anyways. He had taken it back to his room to read. 

“I don’t care where you go, just read it!” Diego had snapped. “And don’t take forever about it!”

Five had glared at him but instead of saying anything did a jump. He had not gone to his childhood room, but the one he had claimed upon his return since he wanted the space. He stared at the blank walls that might not stay blank much longer. In the aftermath of the apocalypse he had learned to use whatever was on hand, so when he got back home he had used the bedroom walls to figure out the math. Even though he knew if he went to his own room there would be no shortage of blank notebooks. Part of him preferred writing on walls.

He picked up the journal and flipped through it, catching snippets here and there. He had written Klaus off when he got back, and now he saw that his opinion of Klaus had been clouded by the damn book Vanya had written. What a fool he had been, as much as he loved Vanya, his view of things was not reliable. Sure she saw things others didn’t because she didn’t have distractions and was overlooked. But she hadn’t seen everything. No one could. But that didn’t stop Five from being angry. Vanya had always been his favorite sibling but her book had clouded his judgement, and because of that part of him was angry with her as well even though he didn’t want to be. He was sure she had gotten plenty of anger over that book from the rest of their siblings.

Five closed his eyes and tried to cast his mind back. Back into the past before he had jumped away in time and didn’t come back. Sure he hadn’t thought Klaus’ powers were very impressive, even if he did get a handle on them. What good was talking to the dead. Of course back then he hadn’t considered that Klaus might be able to use the dead as his own fighters like Klaus had used Ben’s ghost when they went after Vanya.

His memory had always been perfect, Five just needed to focus. He thought about childhood, trying to go back before the training began, before their powers had started to emerge. Back then they rarely saw Reginald Hargreeves, which made sense, what was the point in interacting with them when there was nothing yet to gain? But even back then there was a formal family dinner, though he doubted that it happened when they were babies. It had been breakfast time when they had been three and things had seemed rather normal. Their father had been making more regular appearances, watching and taking notes, just waiting for the moment of awakening. Everything had been normal, that is until Klaus started screaming. None of the nannies knew what to do. They had gone down from a nanny for each child like when they were babies to a small group of four for the seven of them. And then suddenly their dad was there grabbing Klaus and demanding to know what he saw to make him scream.

Thinking back to the incident it was obvious that Klaus had seen his first ghost, but to be honest their father had probably made things worse. He was practically a reptile, they had never been his children but instead had been his investment.And while a good businessman took care of their investment they didn’t go out of their way to make sure it was okay. Just that it would keep going. Klaus practically hyperventilated before Reginald stopped shaking him. With a sneer of disgust the father stalked out of the room barking at the nannies to bring back order to his home or they would be fired.

Five stopped flipping through the journal. The letters to Ben. Five hated a lot of things, but maybe what he hated most of all was that he had been gone when Ben died. Five didn’t know who was more critical of his actions, himself or his father.

Dear Ben,  
Do you ever wonder what mom was going to name Five if he hadn’t been such a stubborn brat?

Five felt his eye twitch but he kept reading.

I used to think about that a lot. First it just bugged me that he didn’t want a name like the rest of us.Like he was better because he didn’t care. He was Five and having a name was beneath him, and we were weaker for wanting that small bit of realness.

Ouch, was that how he had come off as even as a child? Whenever Diego or Luther had tried to call him out for having an attitude he told himself they were just jealous. Maybe he really had just been a little shit back then.

I’ve decided to name Five Philip. No Ben not because it starts with a ‘f’ sound. No it’s because he’s the best ballroom dancer of all of us, he also put together without a hair out of place. He makes me think of a Disney prince. Prince Phillip is from Sleeping Beauty, and he’s the Disney prince who knows how to dance. What do you think Ben? You’re probably wondering why I’m thinking about Five at all. I just think it’s so weird. You died and Dad put up that statue. Five disappeared without a trace and Dad put up that fancy oil painting of him. As far as I’m concerned with how Dad acts, Five might as well be dead. We never talk about him, if not for that picture i was like he never was here.

He’s not dead. I’ve been reaching out to check every day after dinner,it was around the time he disappeared. Dad never lets us get up from the dinner table until the meal is over so even if I knew the exact time it wouldn’t matter. I switch between being worried about how he’s doing wherever he is and being jealous that he got out. I miss Philip Ben.

Talk to you soon  
Love Klaus.

Five stared at the page for several moments. “Philip.” he said softly to himself. It wasn’t a bad name.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think in the next chapter we'll go back to Klaus and the Numbers.


	20. I'm mad at Disney, Disney. They tricked me, tricked me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Klaus reflect on the Numbers, his family, what he wants to do and what he should do.

Klaus sat on his bed, that was something he had not had in awhile. He was staring at a closet full of clothes just for him. That was something he had never had before, he did not think the closet full of Umbrella Academy uniforms really counted. He couldn’t remember the last time he didn’t have more than just the clothes on his back. Probably the only time had been when he was in the past with….no! No he was not going to think about that time...of him. That would only pour salt into his open and bleeding wound. That path led to madness, which kind of said a lot considering that he was already pretty crazy.

This wasn’t just a closet of clothes. These clothes were a gift, it said “I care about you and your well being.” It was a message he had always wanted said to him. In the end he just wanted someone to care about him, wanted someone to see him, see that he needed to be looked after. You would think that his brothers and sisters, his family would do that, be there for him. Their unit wasn’t perfect because no family was, but they had one another. Or at least they should have. So how was it he was getting everything he had ever wanted from a group of strangers with familiar faces?

He wished Ben was here to help him figure out what to do. As soon as the thought came to him he gave a snort. He knew what Ben would be telling him. That he needed to get back, had to go help his actual siblings, that they probably needed his help. He knew this was what Ben would say because it was what he didn’t want to do. It would be so easy just to stay here with the other versions of his family. They were interesting, they were new and so very very different. He wanted to get to know them all better. 

Plus they liked him, they were happy that he was there, and even though it hurt he didn’t think he could say that about his own siblings. He wasn’t stupid, even though he knew they thought he was, Klaus knew what they thought of him. That he was just another fucking junkie looking for his next fix. And for a long time that was what he was, it didn’t matter that he only got high every chance he got to make the ghosts leave him alone. It didn't matter that they had no idea why he had started to drink and take drugs. It was obvious Diego never found his journal of letters to Ben. Or maybe he had but just hadn’t cared. That thought hurt. Klaus preferred not to think like that, Diego had never paid that much to his surroundings, back then he had been obsessed with his rivalry with Luther.

It was strange that in this universe the other version of him was dead. “But for a twist of fate.” he muttered to himself. Six, no maybe he wasn’t ready for his thoughts to settle on that number. Part of him wanted to hug him and never let go. He had only just been beginning to discover what he could really do with his powers before he got lost. So he hadn’t gotten a chance to hug Ben. He did miss Ben, as interesting as these Numbers were that didn’t take away from that ache in his chest. Sighing, he got up from the bed ready to step out into the hall so he could go find Five to ask for his help getting back. When he opened the door he was surprised to see Seven there with his fist raised to knock.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Seven blinked in surprise when Klaus’ door opened just as she was about to knock. “Hello Klaus.” she smiled shyly. “I was wondering if you wanted to go out on a mission with me.”  
She could tell that she had surprised him. “You want me to go with you?” he asked her, as if he just wanted to make sure.

“It’s nothing big. This week is my turn to cause a little trouble. Five likes one of us to go out and cause trouble to remind the world who we are and that we mean business.” she explained. “Keeps things fresh. I was thinking about robbing a grocery store, I’m in the mood for some ice cream. Plus this can let you see some action up close.” She was sure Five would disapprove of Klaus coming with her. But Five could lead them but he couldn’t control them. He knew this, which was why things worked better now.

“Is Five like your leader or something?” Klaus asked as they walked down the hall.

“Pretty much.” she answered.

“What aout One?” Klaus asked. “Isn’t that what dear old dad wanted?”

Vanya thought about and answered with a slightly sly smile. “Things change.” 

“Well that wasn’t ominous sounding or anything.” Klaus muttered which made Seven laugh. She liked Klaus, like the otters she wanted him to stay. And that was why she wanted to take him out with her. Give him an idea of what they did. But she wasn’t sure if he would go with her. After all his family had been raised to save the day. “So up for going out?” She wanted to hear it.

“Well won’t be the first time I’ve robbed a store.” Klaus shrugged casually as you please. Seven let out a small surprised laugh.

“Klaus you are full of surprises.” she smiled.

“I do like to keep people on their toes.” he smiled

“Where are you two going?” Five asked as they walked down the stairs.

“Seven and I want ice cream, it’s Seven’s turn to cause a little chaos, so we’re going to go rob a grocery store.” Klaus cheerfully announced.

Six was the first to speak “Wait….what?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm only a little sorry for that cliff hanger. Next chapter Klaus and Seven(and maybe some others) get into trouble! It's going to be a good time.


	21. The Adventures Of Klaus, Two, and Seven Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Five is not thrilled with this idea. But it's happening! Two gets flustered. Klaus is going on a field trip with Two and Seven!

Five stared at Klaus and Seven. Were they being serious? What was Seven thinking?! Klaus was not a member of this Umbrella Academy. She should not be taking him out like this. Then there was the fact that this outing lacked their usual flare. Robbing a grocery store? That might get a page five mention in the paper but certainly didn’t sound like something that would go on the front page. The point of these excursions was to get their name out there, remind the people who they were. But at least she was taking Klaus on a tame adventure, not that he liked this idea but she wasn’t throwing him to the wolves.

“Seven are you sure this is a good idea?” he asked carefully. Five was in charge but it was because he thought things out, yes he gave orders that he expected to be followed, but he knew that leading a group like this wasn’t just imposing your will on it because you were in charge. His family understood that about him, which was why they followed him.

He didn’t like this. Yes robbing a grocery story was pretty tame, it was something they did as children, but what if something went wrong and Klaus got hurt? Klaus could talk to the dead just like Four could, that wasn’t really helpful on most missions. Four had usually been on look out or distraction duty. They should be protecting Klaus, not putting him in potential danger. Though maybe he didn’t have to say anything at all.

“Are you fucking kidding me?!” Two shouted

There it was.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
“Seven you can’t take Klaus with you to rob a grocery store.” Two protested.

“Aw….why not?” Klaus pouted. Two stared, completely distracted by that pout, it was just like Four’s. Which meant he wasn’t going to win this one, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to go down swinging!

“Klaus this isn’t a game. What if something goes wrong?” he protested. What was Seven thinking? Klaus was here by accident. Yes he wanted him to stay, and maybe this was Seven’s idea of drawing him in. But what if Klaus didn’t like it? Their world was not a bright or happy place. It wasn’t always fun. Klaus might get the wrong idea.

“So come with us.” Klaus suggested like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Two blinked a few times. “Wait….what?”

Klaus just smiled. “So come with me and Seven!” He placed a hand on his arm and smiled up at him. “Come keep me safe.” Two didn’t remember much after that, his brain short circuited and the next thing he knew he was in the car with Klaus and Seven, Klaus was playing with the radio while Five was giving some instructions.

“Go as far as you need to go. Let Two do the get away driving in case the cops come. Keep Klaus safe!”

When the hell had he gotten into the car?!  
~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Klaus looked out the window, they had been driving for almost an hour. “How are we going to get the ice cream back without it melting?” he asked.

“We can’t rob a place too close to base.” Seven explained. “People know that we live in this city but they don’t know where we come from exactly. We’ll rob a grocery store and then buy ice cream on the way back.”

“Wait you’re going to pay?” Klaus asked, looking confused. “I didn’t think you guys did that.”

“Well we’ll be paying with stolen money. So it doesn’t count.” Two explained. “You’re going to go in and pick out the flavors you want for everyone and then we’ll come in and rob the place. You can watch all the fun and then after we make our escape we’ll stop at a store on the way back and use some of the money we took from the other store and buy the flavors we need.”

Klaus thought about it and nodded. Sounded like a good plan to him. He was kind of curious about seeing a mission up close, even if it wasn’t a really serious one. It was nice to be included, and it would give him some good memories for when he was back home. A small voice whispered that he might not be able to go back. Jumping to another universe could not be easy. He was here because of an accident. What if this Five couldn’t help him? He tried not to be pleased at the thought. Just because these versions of his family liked him now didn’t mean that it would stay like that. Eventually he would disappoint them. He was pretty sure they were so attached to him because Four had died. Why would anyone in their right mind want him around?

“This looks like a good place.” Seven’s voice shook him out of thoughts that were quickly taking on a depressing tone. “Klaus you go in and have fun picking out ice cream for everyone. When we see you in the checkout line we’ll make our move. Get as close as you want but just be careful okay?”

“Will do.” Klaus said with a salute before getting out of the car.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
“Seven what are you trying to do?” 

Seven looked over at her brother with a smile. “I thought it was obvious. We want Klaus to stay right?”

“Of course!” Two frowed. “His family sounds like a group of assholes. How could they ignore Klaus like that?! We would never let Four suffer alone.”

“Exactly.” Seven replied. They were waiting to see Klaus at the front of the store. Then they make their appearance as members of the. “We need to expose Klaus to more of who we are. This is a small start but it might give him an idea. Klaus is stronger than he looks. He’s a survivor, which is why he belongs here with us.”  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Klaus had been at the grocery store for about fifteen minutes and had spent all that time looking at ice cream. He had a pretty good idea of what flavor to get everyone. He was excited to see if the other would like his choices. Then there was the current of excitement knowing that at any moment Two and Seven would make their appearance. Not wanting to waste the ice cream he grabbed a box of crackers on his way to the front of the store and got in line. When he got the cash register he wasn’t sure what was going to happen next, he didn’t have any money.

“Sir, your totale if going to be three dollars and twenty five cents.” the cashier smiled.

“Uh…..right…..” he replied a little awkwardly as he started to pretend to pull his wallet out of his pocket.

“Attention ladies and gentlemen.” A failure voice called out. “If you will all be so kind to stay quiet and calm this will all go smoothly.”

“Oh thank god.” Klaus sighed to himself. He looked up as Seven and Two came running into the store. He didn’t know how much longer he could pretend to look for his nonexistent wallet. He had to admit that both Two and Seven looked really cool, they had changed into an adult version of the uniforms he had as a kid. He felt his stomach flutter a bit as he looked at Two, he was really working that eye mask!.

Before Klaus could do anything Two pulled out a knife and threw it. Klaus watched as it flew to the right and suddenly curved. A cry of pain let him know that it had hit it’s mark, which turned out to be the hand of a security guard who was going for what was probably some kind of alarm. Now he was on the ground crying out in pain.

“Everyone on the fucking ground now!” Two orders. Wow that was kind of hot. Which wasn’t really surprising, Di had always been sexy when he got bossy.

He watched as Seven jumped up onto one of the conveyor belts. “Hello everyone. Your beloved Umbrella Academy could use a little ice cream money. If all the cashiers would be so kind as to open your registers. Get moving before Two starts to play target practice.”

“Not so fast!”

Klaus had ducked down with the other store patrons. But at the sound of a voice challenging Seven he popped his head up ignoring the warning hiss of the woman beside him. His eyes widened when he noticed a man and woman at the store doors. The woman had hair so blonde it looked white, behind her was a pair of wings made out of…..ice? Well that was unusual. The man beside her had not just fire engine red hair but his eyes were bright orange, like a flame. Wait….were these the Others Five had mentioned before? The other magic babies Sir Reginald Hargreeves couldn’t buy.

He heard Two groan. “Christ…..you two?” He complained, sounding both bored and annoyed. “They sent Frostbite and Luci?”

“That’s not our names!” the woman snapped.

Damn looked like shit was about to go down then. Five was going to be so pissed if things went sideways.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh damn! Shit is going to go down. What are Two and Seven going to do? They're going to throw down because that's how they roll! What will Klaus do? Will he be able to help the Numbers? Who are these two Others?


	22. A New Challenger Has Arrived!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The fight continues! Klaus steps in the save the day in more than one way.

Klaus wasn’t one hundred percent sure what was going on but he was absolutely fascinated. He had heard mention of the Others but hadn’t thought to ask much about them since he hadn’t expected to ever come across any of them. Why would he? He knew about being a little hero and it hadn’t done him a bit of good. Look at this version of his family. They supposedly were the villains of this story. Yet here they were, still together, working as a unit. And amazingly they seemed to look after one another. At first he had wanted to get together with his past self and cause trouble. Finding out he was dead was weird and a little upsetting. But he was both curious and envious about this other version of him. Who had he been? What had it been like to grow up with people who cared about you? 

Shit, he was getting distracted! He looked at the Others who faced off against Seven and Two. What had Two called them? Frostbite and Lucy. Okay Frostbite was clearly the woman with the wings made out of ice, Klaus almost chuckled at the mocking nickname. He could get why Frostbite would be an unappreciated nickname. But what about Lucy? A play on words maybe? Guy looked like he had flame powers. Klaus blinked as he continued to think, and then it clicked. Flame powers? Could it be Lucy...as in a shortened version of Lucifer? So not Lucy but Luci? Oh there was a joke there. Clearly that was not the guy's real name or maybe not his code name. Klaus would have to look into this at a later point in time. He noticed that a lot of the other shoppers and store employees had taken advantage of the surprise appearance and fled the store. Klaus had no intent of doing the same, not when he had a front row seat!  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Two scowled, Five was going to have a fit when he heard about this, running into two of the Others was not in the plan. Normally this would be no problem, but they had Klaus with them. Would it be better to be careful or get the fight over as soon as possible? He didn’t want to risk that Klaus might get hurt. Where was he anyways? Two had glanced around but didn’t want to make it obvious that he was looking for someone. He had never cared about bystanders before so if Frostbite or Luci thought he was looking for someone they might think it strange. It wasn’t like he had cared if he hurt bystanders in the past.

“Look we are just trying to get some ice cream money.” Seven complained.

“You’re robbing a grocery story!” Frostbite shouted.

“We left our wallets at home. Why do you hate fun?!” Two groaned. “Christ you two are such buzzkills.”

“We weren’t even planning on hurting anyone.” Seve added.

“Quite nobel of us.” Two agreed.

“Will you two shut up?!” Luci demanded. “You two are to come with us quietly or else.”

Two waited a few moments. “Did you two seriously expect that to work?”

“Lame!” Seven snickered. Two hoped Klaus was somewhere safe, especially after Luci shot a fireball at him.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Klaus watched with wide eyes as the fight started. It was Frostbite against Seven while Luci seemed determined to take Two down. He was at a loss, as cool as this was Klaus wasn’t really sure what to do to help. When it came to missions as a kid he had never been much help. He was always the look out. Being able to talk to ghosts rarely helped, though he did wish that Ben was there to help him. Ben always knew what to do, but once again Klaus was painfully aware that he was alone.

Both Seven and Two were able to hold their own quite well, they had probably gone up against these two before. Klaus carefully moved forward trying to figure out a way to help, he had to do something fast, he knew Two could only have so many knives and that Seven’s stamina could only last so long. All the civilians had run out of the store. Maybe he could throw something? Klaus glanced around for something heavy but something soon caught his eye. He could do this!  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Seven grit her teeth as she sent a wave of energy at Frostbite. She wasn’t sure where Klaus had gone and could only hope he had run outside with everyone else. If they didn’t end things soon the cops would show up and that would just make things more complicated. Gritting her teeth she dodged another ice shard, a quick glance told her that Two was holding his own but was no closer to ending his own fight.

Suddenly a scream could be heard, all four of them stared as a glowing blue woman ran out from one of the aisles. “I need help!” she cried.

Seven had no idea what was going on. What was happening? Why was the woman glowing blue? She could tell from the confused look on the two Other’s faces that they were just as confused as she was. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Klaus crouching down, his eyes were closed and his hands…..were glowing blue!!

“Miss you have to get out of here!”

Seven saw her opening, Luci had tried to warn the woman because his kind had morals that kept them in line, it also could make them choose between what they thought of as the right thing to do and winning. Grabbing a nearby bag of flour Seven threw it at Luci and used a wave of energy to make it explode like a bomb. “Everyone scatter!” she shouted. She heard Frostbite crye out in pain and knew Two had taken advantage of both Klaus’ and her own distraction. WIthout waiting she ran from the store heading to where they had left the car.

Waiting for the others was agonizing but thankfully she didn’t have to wait long. Klaus came running around a corner and was soon joined by Two. Without saying a word they jumped in the car and were speeding off.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Klaus scrambled into the car and sighed in relief as Two started driving. “What the hell was that Klaus?!” he exclaimed after a few minutes of driving after mask removal.

“Was that a ghost you used?” Seven asked, sounding a lot more calm as she pulled off his Academy jacket, wouldn’t do to be seen wearing it as they made their get away. She offered Two a jacket to replace his own uniform.

Klaus had been nervous that he was in trouble for helping out. “Oh….uh...yeah. I saw a ghost nearby and decided to use her..” he explained watching as Seven pulled on a pair of jeans before wiggling out of her skirt. “Did I mess things up?” God he was so stupid! Why had he thought he should get involved?! “I’m sorry….I just wanted to help.” he apologized with a bowed head.

“No that was great Klaus!” Two exclaimed. 

Klaus’ head jerked up. “I-it was?” he asked.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Two wanted to frown but he didn’t want to upset Klaus. Klaus was acting like a dog that had expected to get kicked but had gotten a tummy rub instead. He was confused but hesitant and happy. That pissed Two off so much, they all knew that Klaus’ family hadn’t treated him well but to see the evidence of it was upsetting.

“I didn’t know you could control a ghost like that,” he explained. “I mean Four never…..” Two swallowed and cut himself off. Talking about Four was still hard, having Klaus here made things better but he wasn’t a replacement. He hoped they could show Klaus that so when the time came he would want to stay with them.

Seven took over. “Four was never able to develop his powers to that point.” she explained. “I know that the ghosts really scared him even if he didn’t like to talk about them.”

“Yeah ghosts freaking suck.” Klaus chuckled nervously.

“Man Five is going to kill us.” Two groaned. “We’re never going to be allowed out with Klaus again!”

“And we didn’t get our ice cream money.” Seven sighed.

“Well….actually.” Klaus said as he pulled out a wad of cash. “No one was paying attention to me so I raided a couple of cash registers.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Five will not be pleased.....but ice cream


	23. So What If I Misbehave? It's What Everybody Craves.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Five reacts to how things went down.

Five was not amused and that was never a good thing. “Care to run that by me again?” he asked, his tone was calm but his siblings knew that just meant he was trying to hold onto his temper.

“We went out to rob a grocery store and ran into some of the Others.” Two answered. They had arrived back at the Academy and gave the full report. “I assume that is the part you wanted repeated and not the whole story.” Five did not appreciate the sass in his tone, but one thing at a time. Damn it he knew he shouldn’t have let Klaus go out with those two! He had a bad feeling in the back of his mind but pushed it down because Seven would be there. If it had been anyone else he would have put his foot down. He looked Klaus over but didn’t see anything wrong. Still, he was not happy!

Seven held up her hands and took a step forward. “Look, it wasn’t in the plan. But we took care of things.”

Five glowered at her but she didn’t cower, she never did. “Which ones?” he barked.

“Luci and Frostbite.” Seven answered without hesitation.

Five scowled but nodded. “Not the worst ones.” he gave in.

“Cops?” he asked.

“Fight didn’t last that long.” Two replied. Five was about to nod in approval but Two continued. “Thanks to Klaus.”

Five blinked. “What?”  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
When all eyes went to him Klaus couldn’t help but get a little nervous even though both Two and Seven had reassured him that he had done a good job, several times.

“It’s true.” Seven spoke up for him. “ We weren’t sure where Klaus was and didn’t want to risk looking around and alerting either of our opponents that we weren’t alone. They might have called for backup. Neither Two or I were sure what to do next. It was either end the fight and risk that Klaus might be near by and get hurt, or be careful which would have resulted in the authorities arriving.”

Klaus could tell that Five was still confused but still grumpy. “So what happened?” He seemed to be on the verge of losing his temper, which was not something that Klaus wanted to see. Pint sized Five was bad enough, he didn’t need to see what an angry adult Five looked like. Somehow he did not think it would be funny or sexy like when Di got frustrated or annoyed with him. Well, maybe a little...as long as Five wasn’t mad at him.

“Suddenly there was a scream.” Two continued the tale.”The four of us looked up and saw a glowing blue woman run over and cry out for help. Seven threw a bag of flour at Luci,making it explode in his face, while I threw a knife at Frostbite. Then we ran.”

Klaus could see the wheels in Five’s head turn and it was fascinating. Five turned his attention to him. “That was you?”

“Uh….yeah.” Klaus answered. “I...I just wanted to help. So I saw a ghost across the street and went from there.:

Five seemed surprised at this news and Klaus was starting to think Two and Seven had been serious when they had said Four hadn’t known how to possess a ghost. He had thought they were just trying to make him feel better. Not that he had had the power long but he just figured Four would have gotten further along wth using their power over the dead. You know...because he was better. It was weird but kind of nice to know he could do something Four couldn’t. Though Klaus did feel a little bad for having those kinds of thoughts.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Six was absolutely fascinated with this new development. Naturally he had been a little worried when Klaus said he was going out with Seven. Two going with the pair made him feel a little bit better, yet at the same time he had gotten jealous because Klaus hadn’t asked him to go with them. He told himself everything would be fine, that nothing would happen but if it did Seven and Two would keep Klaus safe.

When he heard that something had indeed happened his stomach had dropped. Normally he would love to hear about Two and Seven facing off with two members of the Others. They all hated those stuck up little princesses. But they did make life fun. Honestly he was pretty sure without the Others to keep things interesting the Umbrella Academy would have taken over at least the United States, maybe the world, out of pure boredom.

He had never really known much about Four’s powers. Four had said a lot of the ghosts he had seen were terrifying, so he had not wanted to push. Instead he had just done his best to comfort Four when he was upset. Their father had been hard on Four. Four had been more emotional than the rest of them so turning off his feelings was not something he could do easily.

Klaus had been with them for less than twelve hours but he had already changed everything. While most of them wanted Klaus to stay that didn’t mean Five would go along with it. Five didn’t like to be told what to do, well none of them did, but Five could be especially stubborn. He needed to come to his own conclusion. And the conclusion they needed him to figure out was that they needed to keep Klaus! But Six could see the wheels in Five’s head were turning. He realized that Klaus wasn’t a helpless little bird that had fallen out of it’s nest. Klaus was strong. His own siblings didn’t deserve Klaus. They had always known how special Four was, maybe Klaus’ siblings would learn that lesson the hard way by losing him. But it would be too late. They didn’t deserve a second chance. Not that Six cared if his group deserved a second chance. They were going to take it, because they had always taken what they wanted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone who has been reading my story. Especially if you stuck with me after that extremely long hiatus. If you have ideas you'd like to see happen I'd love to know what you think.


	24. The Blue In An Ocean Of Gray

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Both Five(Original) and Klaus do some reflecting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait. Inspiration doesn't always come quickly. Part of the problem is I had an idea but I have to figure out a way to get to that point.

Five had always thought life was very simple. What mattered was being strong and practical about it. It was why he was content to let Luther think he was in charge, even though Five was much more powerful. He had finished reading Klaus’ journal and was starting to rethink everything he had believed until now. It was kind of ironic that they had all been adopted but Five felt like he could be related to their father….it was not a good feeling. He had been a selfish little prick all his life, not even getting a second chance to fix his mistakes had changed the way he acted. As always he assumed he knew better than everyone else, believed it harder than ever, after all he was the only one who knew the world was going to end.

In hindsight Five realized he could have used his siblings' help instead of disregarding them all as he had always done. He had been so desperate to save his family he didn’t see that he was hurting them. He couldn't stop thinking about how he had let his temper get the best of him when Klaus had said he destroyed the briefcase. He knew the signs of time travel and looking back Klaus had clearly been emotionally damaged. It hadn’t occurred to him to ask Klaus what had happened. Five hated that, hated himself. How could he be so smart and so damn stupid at the same time? 

He flipped through the journal again stopping on random pages. Five had always brushed Klaus off, he had never thought that much about his powers. They seemed unimportant in the grand scheme of things. He had no idea what Klaus had been going through. None of them had, they had all been so wrapped up in their own stupid little problems, they had no idea that one of their own was suffering so much. If Klaus had ever tried to reach out to him he didn’t remember, but considering what a smug little shit he had been, Five seriously doubted Klaus had even bothered to try. Five didn’t blame him, he probably would have just snapped or Klaus to stop wasting his time.

He swallowed when he got to the last page, the letter to Diego. Klaus spoke so casually of his attempt at suicide. Klaus had been in so much pain and felt so alone that death seemed like the only option. Five wish he could say that things might have been different if he hadn’t gotten stuck in the future. Five didn’t know that, maybe it would be different if only because Ben would be alive. From his understanding Ben died on a mission gone wrong, his siblings had been worked too hard by their father. Was all this his fault? Five felt his resolve become firm. He was going to do whatever it took to get Klaus back. And when that was accomplished the first thing he would do was tell Klaus he could call him Philip if he wanted.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Ben watched Five with a small smile. He had been curious about how Five would react to what was written on those pages. He told himself it was because he had nothing better to do, but really it was because he wanted to be there when Five realized what Klaus had really gone through. A bit petty….but he wanted to be able to describe everything in detail for when he next saw Klaus.

He was worried about Klaus. How could he not be? Klaus could get into so much trouble, but really it was more than that. Ben couldn’t sleep, though if he could he was sure that the thought of Klaus scared and alone would keep him up. Would it keep Five up? Or Diego? Maybe now that they knew the truth. Ben looked up with the journal closed with a snap. And then he smiled, because he knew that look of determination on Five’s face. It meant they would find Klaus.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Just as Ben missed Klaus, Klaus missed Ben. It was so strange to be without him. He had been with him for so long acting as conscious and confident. Was he okay? Was he with the rest of their siblings? He hoped so, even though Ben couldn’t talk to them that was better than the thought of Ben being lost in space and time.

Klaus was wandering the halls of the Academy, he had wanted a little time to himself, plus he wanted to see what was different. Klaus was fascinated by all these alternate versions of the family he knew. They all seemed so normal at times, but then one of them would say or do something that would prove otherwise. There was an air of danger about all of them. Even One though Luther seemed like he couldn’t hurt a fly. Klaus knew he should be working on a way to get back home, and yes he supposed he would do something about that soon. But for now he liked being here. This group was interesting, they were the bad guys but they cared about one another. Four dying hadn’t torn their group apart the way Ben’s death had for his own group.

He wondered how Four had turned out? Well besides not a fuck up. There were still a lot of questions he had but wasn’t sure if it was okay to ask them, he didn’t want to bring up bad memories. There was still that worry in the back of his mind that the others only liked him because he was a pale imitation of the brother they loved and missed, but there were times when he was sure they actually liked him for being Klaus. No one since Dave had done that. He could tell when he surprised them. When he said something that made one of them laugh or look at him in pleasant surprise when his own siblings would have just rolled their eyes at him.

When Klaus found himself in a very familiar section of the Academy he couldn’t help but smile a little. It was the hallway that their childhood bedrooms were located in. He knew that they had all taken real bedrooms for themselves, Klaus didn’t blame them. Who wanted to sleep in their childhood bedroom as an adult? There were numbers on the door and on a whim he stepped into the room for the number four on it.

Looking around everything was a little dusty but pretty orderly. When he sat on the bed he looked around. When was the last time anyone had been in there.

“Not for a long time.”

“Christ on a cracker!” Klaus yelped as he jumped to his feet. Had one of the others seen him come in and had followed to tell him off for going where he didn’t belong? Looking around he saw the door was still closed. But now sitting on the bed was what seemed to be a teenage version of him, still in his Umbrella Academy uniform complete with eye mask and a huge blood stain on the chest. Klaus stared at Four’s ghost unsure of what to say. Finally Four said something.

“Well this is awkward.” Four mused.  
“I would say you have no idea…..but you pretty much do.” Klaus replied.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the cliffhanger but on the bright side I have worked out a way to get the Originals to get to the other universe that makes sense. I'm going to try and start working in some romance into the story.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading. I have a lot planned for this. I appreciate comments and kudos. Please keep criticism constructive. It's been a while since I've written anything. Next chapter will have the doppelgangers in it. Some one has to find Klaus. But which number will it be?


End file.
